Women's Soccer Defeats Western New England in Overtime

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's soccer team took less than two minutes into the overtime period to capture a 1-0 victory over Western New England University in non-conference action Tuesday evening at Leary Field. With the win, the Blazers improved to 5-1-1 on the season, while Western New England moved to 1-6-2 overall.

The defensive battle limited scoring opportunities on both sides during the contest. The Golden Bears had a chance to crack the scoreboard in the 25^th minute, but a shot from WNE senior Emma Norden (Belchertown, Mass.) rang off the crossbar. With 31:04 left in the game, Norden worked through the midfield and then juked by a defender and ripped a left-foot shot which Elms senior goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) stopped with a diving save. In the 78^th minute of play, Blazers sophomore Brie Voight (Springfield, Mass.) drew a foul inside the Golden Bears box, resulting in a penalty kick. On the ensuing kick, Western New England senior keeper Briana Kubik (Blandford, Mass.) denied Voight's shot to her low left side, preserving the scoreless tie and forcing overtime.

Less than two minutes into the overtime period, Elms sophomore Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.) raced after a long ball down the sideline, froze her defender with a cut towards the goal and played a cross to the front of the net, where the ball was knocked down and tucked into the far post by Voight, sending the Blazers to a 1-0 victory. The Blazers picked up their first win over Western New England since the 2011 season.

"This is a huge win for us," said Elms Head Coach Sean Milbier. "This was not our best performance, but Coach Mike [Wysocki] said it's a sign of a good team when you can win and not play well, so we are happy with the result. Our defense was tremendous today, they bailed us out when we weren't at our best. I have a lot of friends on [the WNE] side, especially Coach Dias, he's taught me everything I know about this game. It's special to get my first win over [Western New England], but it was a huge with for us."

The Golden Bears edged Elms in the shot column, 11-7, during the match. Rinaudo made a game-high seven saves, while Kubik stopped three shots for Western New England.

The Blazers will look to remain in the win column when they open up New England Collegiate Conference play Saturday evening at Lesley University. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Western New England travels to Eastern Nazarene for a 4:30 p.m. game Saturday afternoon.

ELMS SOCCER