BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel Women’s Soccer Team
notched three goals in the first half and another three in the
second, surviving a scare from Suffolk University in a Great
Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match played at Roberto
Clemente Field on Tuesday night. The game featured six of ten total
goals scored in the final fifteen minutes of play, before Emmanuel
came away with a 6-4 win. The win for the Saints brings
Emmanuel’s ledger to 4-3-1 overall and 2-1-1 in league play.
Suffolk drops to 2-4 on the season and 0-4 in the GNAC.
The Saints came out strong, rattling off three unanswered goals in
the early going. The Saints out-shot the visitors, 9-1, in the
opening stanza with three Emmanuel players scoring their first
goals of the 2009 season. The scoring began with a high bouncing
shot by rookie Brittany Ridge (Portland, Maine), which bounded over
the head of Suffolk keeper Emily Joyce (Easton,
Mass.) in the 19th minute.
Twenty minutes of scoreless play elapsed before Emmanuel sophomore
Alison DeCarlo (Wilton, Conn.) scored unassisted to give the Saints
a 2-0 lead. Just one minute later, sophomore Melanie Hoffman
(Topsham, Maine) found the back of the net to put the Saints on
top, 3-0. Suffolk answered just before the break, when 2008 GNAC
Rookie of the Year Leslie Hayden (Ross, Calif.)
tucked in her first of three goals on the night, cutting the
deficit to two goals at 3-1.
The second stanza began with almost 30 minutes of scoreless play
before the next six goals of the game were scored. The second half
scoring began with another goal from Hayden, who was assisted by
junior midfielder Nancy Roxo (Shelton, Conn.) at
74:05, bringing the score to 3-2 in favor of Emmanuel. Senior
midfielder and this week’s GNAC Player of the Week Kate
McKenna (Holyoke, Mass.) gave Emmanuel a 2-goal cushion with her
unassisted marker at 74:43.
Two more Suffolk goals over a span of 90 seconds would tie the
contest at 4-4. Suffolk’s run began with Hayden’s third
goal of the night at 83:39, as the sophomore registered her fourth
collegiate career hat-trick. After a controversial foul in the box
at 84:50, sophomore midfielder Gina Dean (Revere,
Mass.) converted a penalty kick to knot the game at 4-all.
Emmanuel then had a PK opportunity, which was stopped by Joyce. The
Saints’ game-winner came at 87:11, when rookie Meghan Zerba
(Cumberland, R.I.) was assisted by senior Alexandra Blasser
(Pembroke, Mass.) for a 5-4 Emmanuel lead. The Saints tacked on
one-more with just 18 seconds remaining in the contest, as junior
forward Amber Di Nucci (Assonet, Mass.) notched her fourth goal of
the season with an assist by McKenna and Emmanuel came away with a
6-4 win.
The Saints out-shot the Rams, 18-8, for the game and had a 6-0
advantage in corner kick opportunities. Joyce made 8 saves and went
the distance in net for the Rams. Rookie keepers Jessica
D’Ottavio (Pawling, N.Y.) and Chloe Fortin (Suffield, Conn.)
split the game for the Saints.
(Story courtesy of Emmanuel College Sports Information)