POULTNEY, Vt. – Mountaineer women's soccer kept up its unbeaten streak on Wednesday as it knocked off Green Mountain College, 5-1. With the win, SVC (3-0-0) is now in sole possession of first place of the New England Collegiate Conference, and it matched the win total of 2011. The loss took the Eagles to 0-3-0.
The Mountaineers were able to get shots off early into the game before junior Kaitlyn Forant (Hardwick, Vt.) put one in the goal off a defender's foot in the ninth minute. They were able to control the ball well and keep it out of their defensive zone, not allowing a single shot throughout the first half of play. Forant added another before Erin Student (Clifton Park, N.Y.) got on the end of a cross from junior Jocelyn Ortega (Chula Vista, Calif.) for her second goal of the season to make it 3-0 at the break.
SVC kept up the pressure in the second as Ortega fed Katie Raymond (Fr. / Bristol, Conn.) for her first collegiate goal in the 49th minute of play. Just under four minutes later, freshman Hannah Pease (Worthington, Mass.) finished a scoring chance for her first collegiate tally. The score remained 5-0 until late in the game when Green Mountain got a couple shots off, one lobbing into the net off the foot of the Eagles' Katrina Gardner-Goebel (Rileyville, Va.).
SVC outshot the Eagles by a 17-2 margin on the afternoon, however, the Eagles played tough throughout the 90 minutes. Mountaineer defensive junior Erika Garay (Walnut, Calif.) said of her opponents, "They displayed tremendous effort and kept putting us under pressure until the final whistle blew. Both teams were battling hard for the 50/50 balls, and both teams were eager to finish their opportunities."
With Wednesday's contest, Forant and Ortega now lead the NECC in goals and assists, respectively. The Mountaineers are 3-0 moving into Saturday's 3:30 p.m. home match against Juniata College, the alma mater of SVC head coach Michael Zauzig. At 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, the Eagles will next host Saint Joseph's of Maine.