Box Score Springfield, Mass. – September 20, 2014 – Following back-to-back New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championships, the Springfield College women's soccer program began their quest for a third by defeating the Coast Guard Academy 4-1 in its NEWMAC season opener on Saturday afternoon at Brock-Affleck Field.
With the win, the Pride, who was ranked No. 5 in New England according to the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) this past week, improve to 4-1-1 on the season and 1-0 in the NEWMAC. With the loss, Coast Guard falls to 4-2-1 overall and 0-1 in NEWMAC play.
Lucy Gillett (Rockville Center, N.Y.) started the match for the Pride and picked up the victory, while sophomore Brook Fairman (Huntington, Mass.) saw her first action of the season in the second half. Springfield out shot the Bears 20-1 in the contest and held a 5-0 advantage in corners.
Springfield got off to a quick start, scoring just 5:50 into the game, when junior forward Krissy Cicalis (Bridgewater, Mass.) received the ball at the top of the box from freshman midfielder Dakota Kelly (Bethany, Conn.) and buried it in the bottom left corner of the net to push the Pride to a 1-0 advantage.
The Pride struck again in the with just under 26 minutes remaining in the opening stanza after
Brooke Hattinger (Weymouth, Mass.) headed the ball past Coast Guard goalkeeper Holly Moore (Pittsfield, Mass.) following a pretty crossing pass from
Elizabeth Monson (Wayne, N.J.).
Freshman midfielder
Kimberly Quiles (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) extended the Pride's lead to three with just 44 seconds left in the first half off a beautiful assist from
Mikaela Coady (Middletown, Conn.). Coady forwarded the ball from the midline to a streaking Quiles who was able to find the back of the net for her first-career goal.
With 25:18 remaining in the contest, junior captain
Nicole Fowler (Maynard, Mass.) sent a ball into the box from the left wing, only to find classmate
Jessica Miller (Southbury, Conn.) on the other end of the feed, who headed the ball into the net to give the Pride a 4-0 lead heading into the late stages of the contest.
Caroline Eastman (East Granby, Mass.) got the Bears lone goal with 12:20 remaining in the contest.
The Pride will host NEWMAC opponent MIT in a rematch of last season's NEWMAC Championship game next Saturday at 2:30 pm on Brock-Affleck Field.
