BENNINGTON, Vt. – Southern Vermont College Homecoming Weekend included a women's soccer match played by two teams competing for first place in the New England Collegiate Conference.  SVC suffered a heartbreaking loss, 2-1, to visiting Lesley University in the teams' conference-opening match.

                The Mountaineers (5-2-1, 0-1 NECC) had the first goal of the game, coming with about 14 minutes left to play off the foot of conference-leading goal scorer Kaitlyn Forant (Hardwick, Vt.).  Forant was assisted by conference assist-leader Jocelyn Ortega (Chula Vista, Calif.).  SVC tried to hold that score, yet was unable to stop the Lynx's (6-1-1, 1-0 NECC) offensive surge which found the back of the net twice in the last five minutes.

                Lesley's junior Sarah Apgar (Andover, N.J.) got on the end of a lofted corner kick taken by Veronica Halen (San Diego, Calif.) to tie the match 1-1.  Minutes later, Lesley found itself with another corner.  Although not scored directly off the kick, the eventual game-winner did formulate from the set piece and saw Kate Ryder (Glastonbury, Conn.) collect the ball in an advantageous position to bury it.

                The two teams battled throughout the first half trying to get the upper hand.  While SVC won many 50/50 balls that were being thrown around by the strong winds at Everett Field, Lesley was able to turn ball possession into shots.  The Lynx outshot SVC 19-5 on the day.  Mountaineer junior keeper Catrina Cecchini (Montville, Conn.) recorded 12 saves on the day, while counterpart Emileigh Lloyd (Middletown, Pa.) stopped two SVC shots.

                Southern Vermont will look to bounce back at 4 p.m. on Thursday when they host Morrisville State.  The Lynx look to their 4 p.m. match on Tuesday at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.