Women's Soccer Earns Spot in NECC Title Game

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. - For the third straight season, the Elms College women's soccer team will play for the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship after defeating third-seeded Southern Vermont College, 2-0, in the NECC Semifinals at Leary Field Thursday night. With the win, the Blazers improve to 16-3-1 on the season, while the Mountaineers finish with an 11-7-1 mark.

After a scoreless first half of play, the Blazers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the second half, forcing a corner kick in the opening 20 seconds of play. On the corner kick, sophomore Silvana Tellerico (Southington, Conn.) gathered a loose ball and ripped a shot past Mountaineers sophomore goalkeeper Melissa Mascari (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) and into the upper corner of the net, giving the Blazers a 1-0 lead on her first career collegiate goal.

The Mountaineers had chances to even the score on a free kick from senior Abigail Rosas (Manteca, Calif.) in the 71^st minute, and a shot from freshman Molly Madore (Higganum, Conn.) in the 79^th minute, but Elms senior goalie Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) answered the call with a pair of saves.

The Blazers delivered the back-breaking goal with 3:58 to play as sophomore Brie Voight (Springfield, Mass.) tracked down a ball on the sideline, beat a defender to right side, and chipped a shot over the head of Mascari, sending Elms to the 2-0 victory.

"We have one more game to go," said Elms College Head Coach Sean Milbier. "We've worked very, very hard to get to this point, and we are ready to get it done. In the first half, we dominated the possession, had a lot of energy, and played fast, but we couldn't get last touch to finish. I think in the second half we were determined to score. We need to maintain our consistency for the championship game, limit the errors, and it has to be a maximum effort for 90 minutes."

Elms controlled the shot column, 17-2, during the contest. Rinaudo stopped two shots for the Blazers, while Mascari made a match-high seven saves for Southern Vermont.

The Blazers advance to their third consecutive NECC Championship game, and will face top-seeded Lesley University at BB&N Field Saturday afternoon. Southern Vermont concluded play for the 2015 season.

ELMS SOCCER