Mariners Drop Two Soccer Games

Mitchell College dropped 4-1 decisions to Elms College and Lesley University on Tuesday. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College, and Ryan McCarthy, sports information director at Lesley University:

Men's Soccer: Elms 4, Mitchell 1

The Mitchell College men’s soccer team suffered a 4-1 setback against Elms College on Tuesday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference action at Alumni Field.

Elms (4-10 overall, 2-4-0 NECC) scored two goals in the first half and added another pair in the second to snap a five-game losing streak. Tavish Leland (Bridgton, Maine/Lake Region) scored twice to lead the Blazers while Ziggy Jonathan (Springfield, Mass./Science and Technology) and Conor Rieker (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) each had tallies. Senior James Gleason (Old Lyme, Conn./Hyde School) scored the lone goal for the Mariners (3-9-1 overall, 1-4-0 NECC).

Jonathan was active early for the Blazers, nearly scoring in the eighth minute but denied by a quick save by goalkeeper Kevin Woodford (Niantic, Conn./Morgan School). Just over 10 minutes later, Joelle Reyes (Lynn, Mass./Lynn Classical) gave Jonathan another scoring chance, threading a 25-yard pass down the middle of the field that split the Mitchell defense. Jonathan caught up to the ball in stride and finished into the right corner to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead in the 18^th minute. It was his team-leading seventh goal of the season.

The Mariners tied the game in the 24^th minute after a foul yielded a free kick near the sideline in Elms’ defensive half. Senior Howie Johnson (New London, Conn./New London) played the ball to the far side of the box, where classmate Tommy Derosier (Brooklyn, Conn./Killingly) settled it before slipping a pass to Gleason in front of the goal. Gleason fired a shot past goalkeeper Ryan Sullivan (Agawam, Mass./St. Mary) for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

Leland nearly put the Blazers back in front in the 27^th minute, but his header was cleared off the goal line by defender John Patterson (Narragansett, R.I./Narragansett) to keep the score knotted at 1-1. Elms then pulled ahead in the 35^th minute thanks to a persistent effort by Rieker. The Blazers earned a corner kick and played a ball to Rieker at the near post. His first shot was saved by Woodford, but he fought off a defender to clean up the rebound for his first goal of the year.

Elms took the 2-1 lead into the halftime intermission and tacked on two more scores in the second stanza to put the game out of reach. Jonathan recorded an assist on each goal, both of which were scored on headers by Leland. On the first tally, Jonathan stole the ball away from the defense and centered a pass to Leland, whose header was deflected by Woodford but still found the back of the net. On the second goal, Jonathan served a ball into the box that was flicked on by Joseph Coleman (Easthampton, Mass./Home Schooled) and finished off by Leland.

Ryan was solid in goal for the Blazers after allowing the lone goal, finishing with 11 saves against 24 shots. Woodford recorded seven saves against 19 shots in the loss.

Mitchell will next play at Wheelock College on Saturday, October 22 at 2 p.m. Elms returns to action with a non-conference match at Rivier College on Thursday, October 20 at 7 p.m.

Women's Soccer: Lesley 4, Mitchell 1

Lesley University improved to 6-0-0 in New England Collegiate Conference play with a 4-1 win over visiting Mitchell College Tuesday night in women’s soccer play at Edward Field.

Sophomore Veronica Halen (San Diego, CA/Cathedral Catholic) scored two goals and Jackee Sanchez (Santa Clarita, CA/Golden Valley) added a goal and an assist as the Lynx won their seventh straight.

For the second time in two weeks, the Lesley floored a previously unbeaten second place NECC team, with this win leaving the Lynx (10-3-0 overall) as the league’s only undefeated team after dropping the Mariners to 3-1-2 in league play and 5-4-3 overall.

Halen put the Lynx on the board with her league-leading 15^th goal, striking from 25 yards on an indirect kick tapped from Kate Ryder (Glastonbury, CT/Mercy), scoring into the lower right corner at 7:55.

Mitchell answered in the closing seconds of the first half on the team’s only shot of the period. On a pass across the box from Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, CT/Gilbert School), reserve midfielder Madeline Crow (Rockville, MD/Quince Orchard) beat Lynx keeper Emileigh Lloyd, and despite being outshot 13-1 in the half, Mitchell went into the intermission tied 1-1.

Lesley, which outshot the Mariners 10-0 in the opening minutes of the first half, came out equally aggressive in the second. Sanchez (Santa Clarita, CA/Golden Valley) tallied her 13^th goal of the season, sending home a ball deflected off the left post from right in front of the post in putting the Lynx up 2-1 at 51:48.

Halen upped her league lead to 16 goals at 61:58 on a pass from Sanchez, leading to another long strike from Halen. The Lynx upped the lead to 4-1 at 76:47 on a strike from freshman Alexis Giusti (Meridan, CA/Yuba City), the recipient of a beautiful one-time pass from Sarah Apgar (Andover, NJ/Lenape).

For Mitchell, sophomore Kaylee Woodford (Niantic, CT/Morgan) stopped five shots in net, hitting the turf for a handful of sprawling saves.

Lesley returns to action on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Regis College.