Sept. 29, 2009

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass - The Emmanuel College Women's Soccer Team edged the visiting Mustangs of Mount Ida College, 2-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game played at Roberto Clemente Field on Tuesday night. The two teams played a scoreless first half, before two second half markers by Emmanuel sealed the win for the Saints. With the victory, Emmanuel improves to 6-4-1 on the season and 4-1-1 in league play. Mount Ida dropped to 1-6-1 overall and is still searching for the first conference win of the season at 0-5 in the GNAC.

Emmanuel keeper Jessica D'Ottavio (Pawling, N.Y.) stopped all three of the Mustangs' first half shots on goal. Mount Ida's keepers, Kelsea Curtis-Ney (Johnstown, N.Y.) and Meghan Begins (Jericho, Vt.), shared the 4 first-half stops for the Mustangs. Despite out-shooting the Mustangs, 8-4, in the opening period, the Saints were held scoreless and the two teams entered halftime knotted at 0-0.

The Saints put one on the board early in the second half, when freshman Elizabeth Blasser (Pembroke, Mass.) received a feed from Amber Di Nucci (Assonet, Mass.). Blasser's goal came in the 56th minute and Emmanuel took a 1-0 lead.

Mount Ida tied the contest fifteen minutes later with a put-back off a D'Ottavio diving save. Freshman defender Meghan Moriarty (Holbrook, Mass.) drilled a shot from the right side, which Emmanuel's rookie keeper dove to stop. Freshman midfielder Heather Harrington (Bedford, N.H.) found herself in perfect rebounding position and tapped in the deflection to eliminate the deficit for Mount Ida. Moriarty was credited with the assist on the play.

The game-winner for Emmanuel came in the 77th minute. Emmanuel's senior midfielder and the GNAC Player of the Week for the second-straight week, Kate McKenna (Holyoke, Mass.), sent a shot into the Mount Ida defense. The ball was deflected by a Mustang defender and called an own-goal in favor of the Saints. McKenna received credit for the goal, bringing her tally to 11 this season.

The Mustangs had one final chance to tie things up. With a little more than a minute to play, junior forward Rebecca Tisbert (Cambridge, Vt.) led a breakaway that was broken up by Emmanuel sophomore Logan Carr (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) and D'Ottavio, who charged out of the net to thwart the visitors' run.

Emmanuel out-shot Mount Ida, 18-8, and the Saints led in corner kick opportunities, 6-2. D'Ottavio went the distance in net for the Saints, making 5 stops. Curtis-Ney, who played 12:00 for Mount Ida, made 2 saves. Begins put in a 78:00 effort and notched 7 saves for the Mustangs.

Emmanuel will host Emerson College on Thursday night (10/1) in a cross-town GNAC rivalry beginning at 7pm at Roberto Clemente Field.