Women's Soccer Outlasts Mitchell

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's soccer team edged visiting Mitchell College, 1-0, in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) match at Leary Field Saturday afternoon. The Blazers improved to 8-3-1 overall, and 2-1 in the NECC, while Mitchell drops to 1-6-2, and 0-3 in league play.

The Blazers controlled the possession game during the contest, racking up 31 shots while limiting the Mariners to three shots. In the 16^th minute of play, freshman Christina Leonardo (Enfield, Conn.) launched a throw-in to freshman Kelsey Shea (Belchertown, Mass.), who headed a ball off a Mariner defender's hand in the box, giving the Blazers a penalty kick. On the ensuing attempt, Elms senior Michelle Rossignol (Manchester, Conn.) ripped a shot into the upper corner of the goal, delivering the would-be game-winner for the Blazers.

Mitchell senior goalkeeper Katie McBride (Birmingham, England) was outstanding in net for Mitchell, registering a match-high 15 saves, while Elms senior goalie Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) stopped the lone shot she faced.

"At the end of the day, it was a win, but was it good enough? Absolutely not," said Elms Head Coach Sean Milbier. "When you get 31 chances, you need more than one goal. We let [Mitchell] hang around, and we let [Mitchell] get dangerous. Mitchell played hard, but we made them a much better team today. We played really slow today, we were very slow on the ball, very slow off the ball, the pace was slow, and everything about the game was way too slow today. We played hard today, 31 shots is not easy to get, we just couldn't finish. I think just need to work on finishing and playing faster. We'll come out ready to get a home result against Newbury on Monday."

The Blazers will return to the pitch with a NECC tilt against Newbury College Monday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Mitchell hosts Southern Vermont College Monday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

ELMS SOCCER