Women’s Soccer Advances to GNAC Quarterfinals

Nashua, NH – The Elms College Women's Soccer Team defeated St. Joseph's College of Maine on Friday night at Rivier University in a GNAC Play-In game. 

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:

With the result, the Blazers move on to the quarterfinal round of the GNAC Tournament and will play at top-seeded Johnson & Wales University on Sunday AT 5:00 P.M.

BASICS

Score: Blazers 1 (PK's 6) – Monks 1 (PK's 5)

Records:  Blazers (7-9-2) (6-8-2 GNAC) | Monks (6-6-6) (6-4-5 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

After a scoreless first half both teams came out of the break with a sense of urgency and several scoring chances were the result.

Blazers senior keeper Angela Picheo (Wood-Ridge, NH) kept the game scoreless with a big stop early in the second. Plenty of back-and-forth play followed before the Blazers found the back of the Monks net. Freshman Emily Basua (Oxnard, CA) broke the scoreless tie with a nifty deflection off a Kelly Malheiro (Long Island, N.Y.) right-to-left pass in the box at the 72:20 mark. Less than a minute later, SJC found the equalizer, momentum seemed to be in the Monks' favor during the following 10-minute segment, but the Elms defense held strong, sending the Play-In game to overtime.

During the two OT frames the Blazers dominated play holding a 6-1 shots advantage as SJC keeper turned away a pair of point-blank shots to preserve the 1-1 score and force PK's.

In the penalty kick shootout, the teams stood at a 3-3 tie through five attempts per side to force a golden goal scenario. Audri Cope (Ludlow, MA), Lindsey Jeffrey (Lincoln, R.I.) and Caroline Wilcox (Pomfret Center, CT) hit pay dirt for the Blazers. Picheo would come up big stopping the Monks 8^th shooter, giving Elms the shootout win, sending the Blazers on to the GNAC Quarterfinals.

 INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Basua (6 SH, 5 SOG, 1G)
• Malheiro (6 SH, 2 SOG,1A)
• Picheo (8 Saves)

 FROM THE DESK OF COACH MILBIER:
"To say I'm proud of this group is a huge understatement. We did what we always do and battled for 90 minutes. Tonight, we had to fight a little extra with 20 minutes of OT. PK's are always tough, we had a great approach, and executed well. Angela was big in goal for us, she faced some adversity throughout the year, all she did was work hard, believe in herself and it paid off in a big way."

UP NEXT: 

The Blazers move on to the GNAC Quaterfinals and will face #1 seeded Johnson and Wales University on Sunday 10/29 at 5:00 p.m. at Scotts Sports Complex in Providence RI.

STAY CONNECTED:

- For the latest on Elms College Athletics and the Women's Soccer Team, follow the Blazers via social media on instagram  @elmsblazerswsoc and @elmsblazers