Women's Soccer To Host Bay Path in NECC First Round

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The second-seeded Elms College women's soccer team will host seventh-seeded Bay Path University in the first round of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship Tuesday evening. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m at Leary Field.

The Blazers earned the second seed in the conference tournament after finishing the regular season with an 8-1 mark in the NECC en route to a 9-8-1 overall record. The Blazers closed the 2014 regular season on an eight-game unbeaten streak, where Elms outscored opponents, 28-1, with seven shutouts. Offensively, the Blazers are generating two goals per game on 16.6 shots, while limiting opponents to 1.6 goals on 10.4 shots a game.

Sophomore defender Kylen O'Hearn (Somers, Conn.) serves as Elms' leading scorer with a team-high 22 points on a team-high 10 goals, including four game-winners, with two assists. O'Hearn ranks fifth in the NECC in goals and points. Junior defender Michelle Rossignol (Manchester, Conn.) and freshman midfielder Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.) have added nine points apiece, with Rossignol leading the distribution for Elms with a team-high five assists. Sophomore midfielders Rachel Connell (Easthampton, Mass.) and Meeghan O'Connor (Fall River, Mass.) each netted a trio of goals on the season, while Rossignol, senior midfielder Delina Devillier (Springfield, Mass.), junior defender Lyndsey Oppenheimer (Easthampton, Mass.), freshman midfielders Mackenzie Larochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) and Madison Jung (Stafford Springs, Conn.), and freshman defender Angelina Estrada (Springfield, Mass.) have all potted two goals on the year. Junior goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) has posted a 1.58 goals against average (GAA) with a .735 save percentage, 75 saves, and nine shutouts. Rinaudo leads the NECC in shutouts, and ranks fourth in GAA, goals against, and eighth in save percentage.

The Wildcats claimed the seventh seed in the conference tournament after registering a 4-12-1 overall mark, and a 3-5-1 record in the NECC. Bay Path closed their season with a 2-3-1 record over their final six contests, including shutout victories over Daniel Webster (5-0) and Mitchell (3-0) and a 1-1 double-overtime draw at Becker. As a team, the Wildcats are producing .82 goals per game on 8.7 shots, while opponents are netting 2.4 goals on 22.8 shots.

Bay Path is led by sophomore defender Briana Kujawski (Webster, Mass.) with a team-high five goals for a team-high 10 points. Freshman midfielder Angela Ferrentino (Agawam, Mass.) has five points with two goals and an assist, while sophomore forward Kristen Lynch (Belchertown, Mass.) and freshman forward Elena helming (Maplewood, N.J.) each have tallied a goal and an assist on the season. Sophomore Alma Rizvani (Prospect, Conn.) has served as the primary netminder for the Wildcats, recording 2.28 GAA, a .815 save percentage, 163 saves and three shutouts.

In their matchup earlier this season, the Blazers blanked the Wildcats, 3-0, at Leary Field on October 21^st. The squads played over 75 minutes of scoreless play during the meeting, until Elms broke through with a pair of goals in less than a minute. The Blazers dominated the shot category, 24-2, during the contest. Over the history of the matchup, Elms holds a 11-5-1 edge over Bay Path, with the Blazers winning the last nine meeting by a margin of 31-2.

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