Western New England improves to 1-0-1 in CCC play

DUDLEY, Mass. (September 22, 2018) – Sophomore forward Morgan Smith (Manchester, Conn.) scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season in overtime to lift Western New England University to a 1-0 victory over Nichols College on Saturday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Vendetti Field.

Top Performers
Smith led a Western New England offensive attack that racked up 23 shots, including ten on target. She accounted for four of the ten shots on frame, including the game-winning goal 8:18 into overtime.

Senior Marissa Veilleux (Newington, Conn.) made three saves en route to her fifth career shutout.

Nichols senior goalkeeper Brooke Downey (Middleboro, Mass.) kept the Bison in the contest, stopping ten of the 11 shots that she faced.

Game Review
Western New England played aggressive from the outset with four shots on goal over the first 18:39 of the game. Although the Golden Bears outshot the Bison 9-1 in the half, the score remained tied 0-0 at the break.

The stalemate continued throughout the second half, as the Golden Bears were unable to capitalize despite holding a 10-1 advantage in shots.

In the late stages of the first overtime period, Western New England finally broke through when sophomore Kristin Decost (Hudson, N.H.) found Smith for the game-winning goal.

Notes
• Saturday's contest was the fourth straight overtime game for Western New England and fifth overall this season through eight matches.
• The Golden Bears controlled play throughout with a 23-3 advantage in shots and a 6-0 edge in corner kicks.
• Smith leads Western New England and ranks third in the CCC with five goals this season.

Up Next
Western New England (4-3-1, 1-0-1 CCC) plays its second of three straight road games on Tuesday at Smith, while Nichols (2-5-1, 0-2-0) travels to Dean.