Women's Soccer Topples Southern Vermont

BENNINGTON, Vt. — All of the day's scoring came in the first half as visiting Elms College downed Southern Vermont College 3-0 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's soccer action at Everett Field on Saturday.

The Blazers benefited from a pair of early strikes by junior Kathleen Tuechler (Farmingdale, N.Y.) who provided what proved to be enough for the EC league victory in the opening 17 minutes of play.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday with league contests, Southern Vermont (7-5-1, 3-1- NECC) heading to Becker College for a 6 p.m. start while Elms (10-3-1, 4-1 NECC) visits Bay Path University for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

The Blazers had a couple of golden opportunities in the opening 10 minutes of play, coming inches from taking the early lead on chances in the box. Sophomore Silvana Tellerico (Southington, Conn.) got a point-blank chance from about seven yards away and shot it to the left, but SVC sophomore keeper Melissa Mascari (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) was able to make a fully-extended diving save; the rebound found a Blazer foot, only to be sent wide of the open frame. About seven minutes later, sophomore Angela Estrada (Springfield, Mass.) got on the end of a pass in the right side of the box but rang her shot off the post as the game remained scoreless.

It wouldn't stay that way for long, however, as EC broke through with a pair from Tuechler in a four-minute span. Her first came when senior captain Michelle Rossignol (Manchester, Conn.) played a free kick on the left side of the pitch through the box, between players from both sides to the back post. The Elms junior met it right in front of the goal and banged it home for her fourth of the season, putting the visitors up 1-0 in the 13th minute. Tuechler then added her second with 28:49 to go in the period, scoring on a corner from the left side. Sophomore Jackie Soucia's (Belchertown, Mass.) set kick was carried by the strong wind and curled once again to the back post where Tuechler headed it home on a one-timer.

The Blazers added one more before the break, sophomore Mackenzie LaRochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) notching her third of the year in the 37th minute. She collected the ball and set up from about 25 yards out, firing a shot into the lower right corner of the frame to put Elms on top 3-0.

Neither side could get the ball into the back of the net through the closing 45 minutes as EC maintained its separation. The Blazers outshot SVC by a 10-7 count, edging the Mountaineers 3-2 in attempts on frame. Both defensive fronts played well,forcing their opposition to take shots from outside the box and under pressure. Southern Vermont didn't concede a corner kick in the second half while taking two of its own, but SVC couldn't chip away at the deficit as the hosts suffered their first loss since September 22.

Elms senior keeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) turned away two Mountaineers shots for her fifth clean sheet of the season (10-3-1) while Mascari finished the day with six saves in the effort (5-5-1).

Source: (Southern Vermont Athletics)