EAST BOSTON, Mass. – The Suffolk women's soccer team was upended by Johnson & Wales, 4-0, Monday night at James A. Sartori Stadium at East Boston Memorial Park.
Suffolk was unable to return to the win column as it dipped to 3-11 overall and 2-6 against conference opponents. JWU, on the other hand, extended its unbeaten streak to six straight with its sixth shutout of the season, as the Wildcats improved to 7-6-1 on the year and 6-1-1 in the GNAC.
As the clock approached the 35 minutes a golden opportunity was created for Suffolk as Alicia Villet sent a leading pass to Alexandra Nagri. Nagri raced out in front of JWU's defensive line, which drew Alex Place out of the box. Place dove to grab the balled and stop the Rams forward, but she deked the goalie and continued on. The Wildcats defense caught-up, however, and blocked what could have been Nagri's seventh goal of the season.
Although the Rams kept charging into Wildcats territory, it was the visitors that struck first. Kyra Selner picked up the ball that bounced of Taylor Hopkins' shin pads right on the left box corner and tucked it away in the opposite corner to put Johnson & Wales up, 1-0 at the 14 minute mark.
Just about three minutes later JWU went up by two. Elizabeth Marinaro sent a cross field pass to a cluster of players. Deja Hursey jumped over the packed and headed the rock into the back of the netting.
Another five minutes ticked off the clock and it looked like the Wildcats were about to stretch its lead even further as Kali Trunca fired a shot from the 30-yard line. The freshman midfielder's attempt flew in the air and clicked off the crossbar to keep the score at 2-0 in favor of the Cats.
JWU would tact on one more score before intermission, however, as Marinaro notched her second goal of the season. SaraKate Matthews flipped a center pass to the middle of the box and as Kirsten Weiker went out to stop it, the freshman keeper's gloves missed and Marinaro was there to pick up the pieces and easily slide in the Wildcats' third goal of the night.
As the teams headed into half with Johnson & Wales leading, 3-0, the visitors also held advantages in shots, 9-3, shots on goal, 6-2, and corners, 4-0.
Barely 10 minutes left the clock in the second stanza before another Wildcats goal got by Weiker. With a pack of players in front of her, Weiker missed Matthews shot that was front and center just about 10-yards out. The ball shuffled past Suffolk's netminder to bring the score to 4-0. Matthews' first goal of the season was assisted by Kayla Juliana.
With under 12 minutes remaining, Hursey had a wide-open chance off a rebound to score her second goal of the contest, but the rookie forward missed wide left and the score remained 4-0 the rest of the way.
The Wildcats outshot the Rams, 15-6, including 10-2 on target. The visitors also held a 7-1 edge in corner kicks.
Suffolk and JWU are both back in action Wednesday as each team steps out of conference play. The Rams head to Curry, while the Wildcats host Connecticut College.