WOMEN’S SOCCER DOWNS SUFFOLK IN GNAC OPENER, 2-0
BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women’s soccer team used two second half goals to defeat Suffolk University, 2-0, in Saturday afternoon’s Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener. With the victory the Saints improve to 2-3-1 overall and 1-0 in the GNAC while the loss drops the Rams to 0-4 and 0-1 in the GNAC.
BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's soccer team used two second half goals to defeat Suffolk University, 2-0, in Saturday afternoon's Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener. With the victory the Saints improve to 2-3-1 overall and 1-0 in the GNAC while the loss drops the Rams to 0-4 and 0-1 in the GNAC.
After a slow first half of play that saw both teams land four shots on goal, Emmanuel came out of the gates stronger in the second frame and put the pressure on the Suffolk defensive unit keeping the possession deep in the Rams half. A flurry of Emmanuel corner kicks around the 75th minute of play would lead to the eventual game-winner by EC freshman Alison MacDonald (Peabody, Mass.).
Senior forward Darcey Sullivan (Dalton, Mass.) launched her third corner in less than a minute into the Rams box that bounded around before a Suffolk defender attempted to clear the ball. MacDonald intercepted the clear and set a one-time volley into the top third of the goal for her first collegiate tally to put the Saints on top for good, 1-0, with 75:13 on the clock.
Just 1:22 later, Emmanuel added an insurance goal as Sullivan found the back of the net for the fourth time this season. Following the restart of the first goal, the Saints controlled the possession and worked the ball down the right side of the field. Again the Rams had trouble clearing the ball from their defensive third and Sullivan controlled an errant clear before depositing a left-footed strike to the lower left corner to give Emmanuel a 2-0 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining.
The Rams best scoring chance of the day came when the game was still locked at 0-0 as senior forward Taylor Miranda (Smithtown, N.Y.) found herself on a semi-breakaway. As EC sophomore goalkeeper Benna Smith (Wantagh, N.Y.) came off her line, Miranda's shot beat the Emmanuel keeper only to bounce off the near post before the Saints were able to clear the rebound ending the scoring threat.
Smith earned the win and improved to 2-3 on the year making five saves while Suffolk junior goalkeeper Melissa Brouillette (Shelton, Conn.) was outstanding in the losing effort, making a 13 saves for the Rams.
On the afternoon Emmanuel outshot the Rams 28-11 and also edged the visitors in corners, 13-5.
The Saints return to action on Tuesday, September 17 when they host Babson College at 7:00 PM while the Rams are idle until Thursday, September 19 when they head across town to face off against Emerson College in non-conference action.