WOMEN’S SOCCER OPENS GNAC PLAY WITH 5-0 WIN OVER NORWICH

BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Kayla Generis (Wethersfield, Conn.) scored two goals and dished out an assist to lead the Emmanuel College women's soccer team past Norwich University, 5-0, Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at Roberto Clemente Field. The win was EC's first of the year as the Saints improve to 1-4 overall and 1-0 in GNAC play while the loss drops the Cadets to 1-2-1 overall and 0-1 in the GNAC.

Senior Alison MacDonald (Peabody, Mass.) opened the scoring at the 15:25 marker with her first goal of the year to give the Saints a 1-0 cushion. The defender banged in a rebound just inside the 18-yard box to give Emmanuel the early lead. Less than three minutes later, senior forward Courtney Freedman (Richmond, Mass.) made it 2-0 with her first tally of the season by finishing off a pass from Generis to give the hosts the two-goal advantage.  Generis got into the scoring column just 1:31 later to make it 3-0 with an unassisted goal, giving the Saints some room to breathe heading into halftime.

Emmanuel outshot the Cadets 14-3 in the opening stanza while owning a 4-2 advantage on corners.

Generis opened the second half scoring with her second goal of the match at 51:09 to bump the lead to 4-0. Senior midfielder Maggie Carey (Swampscott, Mass.) fed a ball to the top of the box and Generis did the rest for her second goal of the afternoon. Carey got into the mix to round out the Emmanuel box score with her second goal of the year at 58:42. Sophomore Rachel Beliveau (West Springfield, Mass.) threaded a pass to set up Carey for the finish and 5-0 Emmanuel final.

EC finished the game outshooting the Cadets 31-3. The only Cadet shot on goal came in the first half by senior defender Nicole Hess (Weisbaden, Germany) which Emmanuel junior goalkeeper Victoria LaRoche (Hudson, N.H.) stopped for her only save of the afternoon.

LaRoche earns her first victory of the year in net, splitting time with freshman keeper Alexis Gawron (South Hadley, Mass.) to combine for the clean slate. Norwich junior keeper Leandra Flores-Nieves (Colorado Springs, Colo.) made nine save before being relieved by senior Holly Lutz (Hamburg, N.J.) who made five saves during the final 31 minutes.

The Saints return to action on Tuesday, September 13 when they play host to Fitchburg State University at 7:00 PM at Clemente Field. The Cadets play the following afternoon on Wednesday, September 14 in a non-conference tilt at Plymouth State University, kickoff set for 4:00 PM.