Wesleyan University Tops Women’s Soccer, 4-1

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior defender Ally Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) scored on a corner kick and freshman goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) made eight saves, but Wesleyan University (Conn.) used three goals by Laura Kurash (Voorhees, N.J.) to help lift the Cardinals to a 4-1 win over the Blazers in Tuesday afternoon's non-conference women's soccer game at Leary Field.

With the loss, Elms moves to 2-7-1 overall, while Wesleyan improves to 3-4-1 on the season.

Wesleyan got an early lead when Kurash played the ball into the back of the net following a scramble in front of the net in the six-yard box.

The Cardinals extended that lead six minutes later when Kerry Doyle (North Haven, Conn.) delivered a corner kick service to Kurash who drilled the ball into the left corner of the net to set the score at 2-0.

Wesleyan maintained the lead through intermission and added its third strike when Kurash blasted a deflected ball into the left side of the net to up the lead to 3-0 at the 48:13 mark.

The Cardinals' final tally came in the 65^th minute of action when Doyle connected for a long score from just outside the 18-yard box to give Wesleyan a 4-0 advantage.

Elms scored its goal at the 79:15 mark when freshman forward Melissa Welch (Westfield, Mass.) delivered a perfectly placed pass to Witaszek who fired a tailing shot from just outside the 18-yard box over the keeper's head to set the final score at 4-1.

Rinaudo made eight saves in the game including five in the first 45 minutes of action. Cardinals' starting goalkeeper Rachel Hobert (Chicago, Ill.) made one save in the first half and earned the victory, while Jessica Tollman (Brookline, Mass.) played the second stanza and added a save.

Elms returns to action when it travels to Clark University on Thursday, Oct. 4 for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference tilt with the Cougars.