NASHUA, N.H. — The Southern Vermont College women's team collected its first-ever victory Tuesday night, winning 14-12 at Daniel Webster College in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action played at Rivier University.
SVC moves to 1-1 on the season and in league play while the Eagles fall to 0-2 on the year, 0-1 against the NECC.
Mountaineer sophomore Melodie Orrell (Gloucester, Massachusetts) tallied a game-best five goals while adding six ground balls and four draw controls in the win, and freshman Taylor Brewer (Bennington, Vermont) chipped in with another five goals, two assists, seven ground balls and four draw controls. Sophomores Lauren Nesshoever (Rutland, Vermont) and Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Massachusetts) each tallied a pair of goals with Nesshoever scooping up a team-high eight ground balls.
SVC freshman goalie Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, New York) recorded her first collegiate win (1-1) between the pipes, stopping eight Eagle shots on the night. Daniel Webster goaltender Kassandra Scanlon-Napier (Bowmanville, Ontario) stopped 12 Mountaineer shots in the loss (0-1).
Eagle senior Alexis Pavelock (Saratoga Springs, New York) notched five goals for the hosts while sophomore Madeline Roulier (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) registered a goal and a game-best 11 draw controls.
Southern Vermont owned a 38-27 ground ball advantage on the night and out-shot DWC 30-27. The Eagles committed 18 turnovers while forcing SVC to make 24.
Brewer got the Mountaineers on the scoreboard first just one minute after the opening whistle, but Daniel Webster tied things just 12 seconds later with Roulier's tally. Orrell then recorded her first less than 20 seconds later as the scoring went back-and-forth; she added another two for the hat-trick by the 19:41 mark of the first half, and Brewer put in her second to give Southern Vermont the 5-2 edge.
Orrell and Brewer would each notch one more goal before halftime as the Eagles kept pace with help from a pair of Pavelock scores, the last coming with 36 seconds to go in the first for SVC to take a 7-4 lead to the break.
The two sides continued to battle through the second half as the Mountaineers clung to their tight advantage. Nesshoever netter her first collegiate goal at the 16:47 mark, and Brewer added consecutive tallies during a 4-1 SVC run that put the visitors ahead 12-7. Daniel Webster made a late charge, however, closing the deficit with a 5-2 stretch through six minutes to make it a 14-12 Mountaineer lead. The final 2:36 of action was scoreless as Southern Vermont held on to its upper hand before celebrating the team's first-ever win.
SVC is slated to continue the Conference schedule on Thursday with a road contest at Wheelock College, start time still to be determined.