Women’s Soccer Battles to 2-2 Double Overtime Tie Against Becker College

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College freshman midfielder Melissa Welch (Westfield, Mass.) assisted on a pair of first half goals and freshman goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) made 11 saves, but Becker College's Caroline Plunkett (Bell Harbor, N.Y.) broke the Hawks' single-season goal record with her 21^st and 22^nd goals of the year in comeback fashion to help seal a double overtime draw with the Blazers in Thursday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's soccer game at Leary Field.

With the tie, Elms moves to 6-9-2 on the season, 5-1-2 in NECC action, while Becker moves to 8-5-3 overall, 6-1-1 in conference play.

The Blazers drew first blood in the 16^th minute of play when Welch sent a long pass to freshman forward Hannah Spring (South Hadley, Mass.) who made a nice run down the left side of the pitch and scored the game's first goal.

At the 38:59 mark, Elms increased its lead to 2-0 when Welch sailed a corner kick over the out-stretched hands of Becker's goalkeeper Kaitlyn Rose (North Attleboro, Mass.) to junior forward Chelsea Carroll (Meriden, Conn.) who tapped the ball into the net to give the Blazers a two-goal lead.

Despite being outshout 19-5 in the opening period, Becker cut its deficit in half when Alysha Giulietti (Uncasville, Conn.) delivered a through ball to Plunkett who drew the Blazers' keeper out of the net and was able to finish with a goal in an open net to set the score at 2-1 at the 42:46 mark.

Plunkett struck again in the 68^th minute of play following a pair of excellent touches by Jodi Theriault (Woodstock, Conn.) and Jaclyn Orangio (Maynard, Mass.) to knot the contest at 2-2.

Both sides had a pair of chances to net the game-winner in regulation, but Rose and Rinaudo were able to keep the ball out of the net and force extra time.

In the first overtime frame, each side had three shots on target, but none more deadly than Welch's corner kick offering that curled towards the left corner of the net but was turned away by Rose at the 99:32 mark. Elms' junior defender Ally Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) collected the rebound and fired a shot but the ball struck the post and kept the score even at 2-2.

In the second stanza of extra time, Elms placed four shots on goal including one by sophomore forward Gina DiGiovanni (Springfield, Mass.) that was cleared away on the goal line thanks to a brilliant defensive save by Rebecca D'Andrea (Cumberland, R.I.) who played a pivotal role in the defensive third of the field all game for the Hawks.

Plunkett and Theriault finished with five shots on goal each in the stalemate for Becker, while Hannah Spring and Elms' freshman midfielder Michelle Rossignol (Manchester, Conn.) notched five shots on goal each for the Blazers.

Rose finished with 20 saves for the Hawks including 11 in the first 45 minutes of play.

Elms concludes regular season action on Saturday, Oct. 27 with an NECC contest at Newbury College at 1:00 p.m.