McMillen’s Hat Trick Powers Women's Soccer Over Albertus Magnus in GNAC Quarterfinal, 5-2

THE BASICS 

Score:             
Emmanuel College, 5; Albertus Magnus, 2
Records:         
Emmanuel College Saints (10-8-1, 8-3-1 GNAC)
Albertus Magnus Falcons (8-8-1, 5-6-1 LEC)
Location:         
Boston, Mass. – Roberto Clemente Field
Date:               
Saturday, November 2, 2019

THE LEAD:  Freshman forward Megan McMillen (North Branford, Conn.) scored her first collegiate hat trick to lift the Emmanuel College women's soccer team over Albertus Magnus College, 5-2, Saturday afternoon in the Quarterfinal round of the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament at Roberto Clemente Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

• The Saints came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, attempting seven shots and three corner kicks in the first 15 minutes of play before McMillen found the back of the net to make it 1-0 at the 17:19 marker. Senior back Kaylin Deschenes (Lynn, Mass.) whipped in a ball on a direct kick that McMillen headed home for her second goal of the season.
• The first-year forward got her second goal in the 32^nd minute as junior defender Rachel Prevost (Tewksbury, Mass.) found her in front of the net to give Emmanuel a 2-0 cushion.
• The Saints added what proved to be the eventual game-winner with less than five minutes to play in the opening half when junior winger Paige White (Guilford, Conn.) buried her third goal of the campaign with the help of an assist by junior midfielder Sydney Allen (Charlestown, R.I.) to give the hosts a 3-0 cushion heading into halftime.
• At the break, Emmanuel held a 16-5 advantage in shots as well as a 4-3 lead in corner kicks.
• McMillen put the game out of reach in the 58^th minute with her third score of the afternoon, poking home her fourth goal of the season following a scrum in the box to make it a 4-0 lead for EC.
• Junior Hannah Sheskey (Scituate, Mass.) got into the scoring column with her sixth goal of the season to bump the lead to 5-0 as first year midfielder Aoife Delaney (Weymouth, Mass.) set her up for the score.
• Albertus Magnus never stopped playing hard and broke up the shutout with 7:55 to play in regulation as junior forward Katherine Raposo (Warwick, R.I.) found the upper corner of the goal following an assist from freshman midfielder Jenessa Perez (Oxford, Conn.) to make it 5-1.
• Minutes later, Raposo capped a phenomenal season with her team-leading 17^th goal of the year, finishing a pass from Keegan Riccio (West Haven, Conn.) to account for the 5-2 final score.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• EC first year keeper Alyssa Crugnale (Middleton, Mass.) picked up the win to improve to 5-0-1 on the year in net making five saves.
• Senior goalkeeper Cassidy Scofield (Shelton, Conn.) ended an outstanding career with the Falcons by making 10 saves in defeat.
• The Saints ended the action outshooting the Falcons by a 24-13 margin while each squad attempted five corners in the Quarterfinal.
• Emmanuel improves to 16-3-1 all-time against Albertus Magnus and is now 2-1-1 against the Falcons in GNAC postseason play.
• Both White and Sheskey scored against the Falcons earlier in the season when Emmanuel posted a 2-0 win exactly one month ago on October 2.
• EC improves to 4-0-0 on the season when scoring three or more goals in a match.

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel advances to the GNAC semifinals for the second consecutive season and will face No. 2 seeded Saint Joseph's College (ME) on Tuesday in Standish, Maine. The Monks advanced in their Quarterfinal match-up in penalty kicks, playing to a 2-2 draw through 110 minutes of action before a 3-2 round of PK's helped them hold seed.