Women’s Soccer and Smith College Battle to 1-1 Draw

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore midfielder Michelle Rossignol (Manchester, Conn.) scored just 32 seconds into the second half to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead, but Smith College answered when Jordan Houston (Providence, Utah) scored 4:25 seconds later as the sides battled to a 1-1 double overtime draw in Wednesday evening's non-conference women's soccer game at Leary Field. 

With the tie, Elms moves to 1-3-1 on the season, while Smith moves to 2-2-1 overall.

In the opening 45 minutes, Smith held a slight advantage in shots, 4-2 and neither team registered a score before intermission.

Elms fired the first salvo just 32 seconds into the start of the second half when sophomore midfielder Melissa Welch (Westfield, Mass.) crossed the ball to junior forward Gina DiGiovanni (Springfield, Mass.) who touched the ball to Rossignol who fired a curling shot past the Pioneers' diving keeper to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.

Smith answered just 4:25 later when GiGi Ross (Colts Neck, N.J.) delivered a through ball to Houston who delivered a well-placed shot to the left corner of the net to level the contest at 1-1.

The Pioneers continued to apply pressure in the second stanza, outshooting Elms 12-3 in the frame, but Blazers' sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) kept the game at 1-1 making eight of her nine saves in the second half to force overtime.

Neither team managed a shot on target in the first 10-minute overtime period and both sides had two shots in the second overtime but Smith's net-minder Alanna Lynch (Trumbull, Conn.) turned aside the one shot on goal to send the game to a 1-1 draw.

The Pioneers' received three shots on target from Emily Smith (Winchester, Mass.).

Elms returns to action on Saturday, September 21 when it hosts Regis College in its 2013 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) home opener at 4:00 p.m. at Leary Field.