Box Score
CHICOPEE, Mass.--Despite outshooting Elms College 11-7, the Western New England women's soccer team was held scoreless in a 1-0 overtime loss at the hands of the host Blazers in a non-conference game on Tuesday evening. The Golden Bears drop to 1-6-2 overall while Elms ups its record to 5-1-1 on the season.
The defensive battle limited scoring opportunities on both sides during the contest. The Golden Bears had a chance to crack the scoreboard in the 25th minute, but a shot from senior
Emma Norden rang off the crossbar. With 31 minutes and 4 seconds left in the game, Norden worked through the midfield and then juked by a defender and ripped a left-footed shot which Elms senior goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo stopped with a diving save. In the 78th minute of play, Blazers sophomore Brie Voight drew a foul inside the Golden Bears box, resulting in a penalty kick. On the ensuing kick, Western New England senior keeper
Briana Kubik denied Voight's shot to her low left side, preserving the scoreless tie and forcing overtime.
Voight, who was Western New England's leading scorer in 2013, haunted her former team with the game-winning goal just 1:13 into the extra period. Elms sophomore Jackie Soucia raced after a long ball down the sideline, froze her defender with a cut towards the goal and played a cross to the front of the net, where the ball was knocked down and tucked into the far post by Voight for the sudden-victory. The Blazers picked up their first win over WNE since the 2011 season.
Norden had five of WNE's 11 shots, and classmate
Sarah Marois chipped in three.
Kubik stopped three shots for WNE while Rinaudo made a game-high seven saves. .
Western New England travels to Eastern Nazarene College for a 4:30 p.m. game Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference play. The Blazers will look to remain in the win column when they open up New England Collegiate Conference play Saturday evening at Lesley University. Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
(Editor's note: Elms Athletics contributed to this game recap.)
