Women's Soccer Tripped Up at Westfield State

WESTFIELD, Mass. – A pair of second half goals lifted Westfield State women's soccer past Elms College, 2-0, on a picture perfect Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Christina Buonopane (Stoneham/ Stoneham, Mass.) scored the game winner, and her first goal of the season, on a set piece that was served in the box from Nicole Gay (Smith Academy/ Hatfield, Mass.).

Buonopane, a senior defender, was pushed forward when an Elms' foul produced a free kick 40 yards from goal in the 61^st minute. Gay launched the assist into the right side of the box and connected with a streaking Buonopane who redirected the ball inside the opposite post, giving the Owls a 1-0 advantage.

Ten minutes later, Ashley Bovat (Westfield/Westfield, Mass.) drew two defenders at the top of the box and connected with an open Kayla Murphy (Minnechaug/ Hampden, Mass.) to her right who registered her first collegiate goal beating Elms' keeper Alexa Rinaudo (Mepham/ Bellmore, N.Y.) on the far side.

Rinaudo made six saves in the losing effort, while Westfield's Natalia Falcone (Sutton/ Sutton, Mass.) and Anne Stack (East Longmeadow/ East Longmeadow, Mass.) combined for the clean sheet registering four combined stops.

The Owls climb to 6-4 on the season and Elms slides to 7-3-1.

Westfield returns to MASCAC play on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. when they host Framingham State and Elms hosts Mitchell for a NECC showdown on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 2:30 p.m.