Women's Soccer Downs Becker

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

LEICESTER, Mass. – The Elms College women's soccer team collected it's first New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) victory of the season, defeating host Becker, 3-1, at Alumni Field Saturday afternoon. The Blazers improved to 7-2-1 overall, and 1-0 in conference play, while Becker dropped to 7-3, and 1-1 in the NECC.

The Blazers cracked the scoreboard in the 12^th minute as junior Kathleeen Tuechler (Farmingdale, N.Y.) played a ball to sophomore Brie Voight (Springfield, Mass.), who ripped a shot past Becker freshman goalkeeper Jordyn Martel (Chicopee, Mass.) to stake the Blazers to a 1-0 lead.

With 14:03 to play in the first half, sophomore Mackenzie LaRochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) delivered a ball to senior Michelle Rossignol (Manchester, Conn.), which Rossignol fired from 20 yards out off the hands of Martel and into the back of the net, pushing Elms' advantage to 2-0. The Blazers carried their 2-0 lead into halftime.

The Blazers netted a back-breaking goal in the 70^th minute as freshman Kelsey Shea (Belchertown, Mass.) played a long ball through the midfield, finding Voight in stride to the net, where she edged the defender in a foot race and launched a shot past Martel's right side, extending the lead to 3-0. The Hawks prevented the shutout with 11 minutes to play as freshman Ciara McKissick (Charlton, Mass.) headed home a throw in from sophomore Alison Mosdale (Marlborough, Conn.) from 13 yards out. The Blazers defense held Becker off the scoreboard in the final minutes to secure the 3-1 victory.

"This was a huge, road conference win for us," said Elms Head Coach Sean Milbier. "Again, we delivered a great team effort. We played well from the back to the midfield and all the way to the top, which led to some nice goals today. Defensively, we neutralized [Becker], they are a very good offensive team, very fast, they've scored 35 goals this year, and we were able to slow them down. When we were on the ball, we slowed things down, found our feet, and possessed the ball really well. Becker scored off a long throw, so we'll need to clean that up for next game, but other than that it was a solid 90-minute effort. We had a tough matchup next at Westfield State, they are very good and very strong. We haven't beaten [Westfield] in a long time, we going up to their house, so it will be tough but we'll work hard and be ready."

Elms doubled the Hawks in the shot column, 16-8, during the match. Blazers senior goalie Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) made a pair of saves, while Martel stopped a game-high five shots.

The Blazers will look to continue their winning ways with a non-conference road trip to Westfield State University Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Becker travels to Rhode Island College Tuesday for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff.

ELMS SOCCER