Women's Soccer Advances to ECAC Semifinals On Penalty Kicks

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The third-seeded Elms College women's soccer team netted a late second-half goal, and then defeated visiting six-seed Curry College, 4-3, on penalty kicks in the 2015 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Quarterfinals Wednesday night at Leary Field. The Blazers move to 16-3-2 on the season, while the Colonels wrap their campaign with a 13-6-2 overall record.

The Colonels broke a scoreless tie in the 17^th minute of play as junior Kaitlyn Lima (New Bedford, Mass.) played a cross to the far side of the box, where sophomore Samantha McGrath (Carver, Mass.) hit a light shot right at Elms senior goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.). The shot slipped through the hands of Rinaudo and into the back of the net to stake the Colonels to an early 1-0 lead. The Blazers managed six first-half shots, but Curry maintained the 1-0 lead after the first half of action.

With less than five minutes to play, Elms junior Sevonnah LaRochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) pursued a long ball towards the Colonels goal line, and was taken down in the box by a Curry defender, resulting in a penalty kick for the Blazers. On the ensuing attempt, senior Michelle Rossignol (Manchester, Conn.) ripped a shot over the head of Curry junior goalie Christina Chiofalo (Smithtown, N.Y.), sending the contest into overtime knotted at 1-1.

After two scoreless overtime periods, the match would be decided on penalty kicks. Curry received successful attempts from junior Kelly Parker (Branford, Conn.), Lima, and sophomore Abigail Ford (Halifax, Mass.), while the Blazers had good attempts from Rossignol, sophomore Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.), and junior Rachel Mick (Granby, Mass.) to force a sixth round of shots. Curry sophomore Korinna Tsonis (Dartmouth, Mass.) sent a shot high over the goal for the Colonels, and then Elms junior Meeghan O'Connor (Fall River, Mass.) stepped up and fired a shot past Curry junior Brianna Fitzsimmons (East Haven, Conn.) to push Elms into the ECAC semifinals with a shootout victory.

"It was an amazing game tonight," said Elms College Head Coach Sean Milbier. "It was a real physical game, and I think we stayed within ourselves, we played well on the ball and continued to possess the ball. I though our midfielder played really well, and our backs handled [Curry's] very fast forwards well, and stuck to our game. I'm sure if you ask Alexa, [their goal] is a shot she stops 99 times out of 100, but I think the team showed their resilience to not let that be the goal that wins the game for Curry. We kept battling and battling, and were finally about to tie it up on a PK by our senior captain Michelle [Rossignol], which was awesome. We didn't want to send our seniors out with a loss, especially on Leary Field, but to go 13-0 at home this season has been a great accomplishment for our team, and I'm very proud of it. It's always tough when it comes down to penalty kicks, a lot of nerves are involved, so you have to have the mental toughness to go up there and hit one. I know some of our girls are upset they didn't make [their attempts], but you rely on your teammates to back you up and get the next one. We had some nice attempts, and our keeper made a huge save, and we came out on top. Emerson is a very good side. We scrimmaged them to open the season, so we know a little bit about them. We are banged up right now and will have a couple players out for that match, but no excuses, and we fully expect to win. We'll put our gameplan together and look to move onto the finals."

The Blazers edged the Colonels in the shot column, 20-12, during the match. Rinaudo made a match-high seven saves for Elms, while Chiofalo stopped five shots, and Fitzsimmons made two saves in relief.

The Blazers will move onto the ECAC Semifinals to fact seventh-seeded Emerson College Saturday afternoon at tournament host Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts. Kick-off is to be determined. Curry wrapped up their action for the 2015 season.

ELMS SOCCER