BENNINGTON, Vt. — A hat-trick for Southern Vermont College sophomore Ashley Weatherwalks (Florida, Massachusetts) capped a 5-0 win for the Mountaineers over Mitchell College Saturday afternoon at Everett Field in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's soccer action.
With the victory, SVC inches closer to the .500 mark on the season as the Mountaineers now own a 6-7 overall record with a 4-1 mark in the conference; they have now won four straight and six of their last seven matches. Mitchell falls to 1-10-1 on the year with the loss, 1-3-1 against the NECC.
It didn't take too long for the Mountaineers to get through the Mitchell defense and take an early advantage with a great dribbling performance from sophomore Melodie Orrell (Gloucester, Massachusetts). She collected the ball in the middle of the field about ten yards into the Mariner half and started to go at goal. The sophomore maneuvered around a few MC players before getting into the penalty area with the ball still on her foot. She took one more touch around the last Mitchell defender and found herself one-on-one at junior keeper Katie McBride (Paris, France); Orrell lined up and fired a shot into the top left side of the net, putting her team up 1-0 early into the eighth minute of action with her fourth goal of the season.
Mitchell had its share of chances in the opening 15 minutes of play, but the Mountaineer defense contained the Mariner attack outside of the box to force low-percentage shots from far away. The 1-0 score stood through the next 20 minutes and nearly got padded when Orrell once again used nice footwork to weave through the Mariner backfield. With just McBride to beat, Orrell took a touch to the left as the keeper slid to the ground; the Mountaineer took a glance at the open net before getting a shot off, a take that just missed the frame and went into the left outside netting of the goal with under 10 minutes to go.
Shortly after that, however, Orrell continued her success in the Mitchell end of the field, working the ball on the right side into the box before finding Weatherwalks right in front of the net. She took a touch, turned and put home her first collegiate goal for a 2-0 lead the Mountaineers would bring into the break.
Twenty minutes into the second half, SVC added its third goal with an unassisted tally by sophomore Lauren Nesshoever (Rutland, Vermont), her ninth of the season coming at the 69:59 mark of the game; she took a nice touch to space in the box and buried a great finish for the 3-0 advantage. Just over three minutes later, Weatherwalks registered her second of the day after working the ball towards the right corner flag; she turned and hit it in front of the frame where a Mitchell defender attempted a clear, only to see the ball glance off her leg and into the Mariner goal. Weatherwalks completed the hat-trick with under five minutes to go in the game, running on to a carom off the crossbar from a shot by junior Karina Meza (Los Angeles, California) for the final tally of the match.
Mountaineer freshman keeper Melissa Mascari (Saratoga Springs, New York) recorded her third collegiate shutout with the win (6-7), making eight saves on the day. McBride stopped six SVC shots in the loss (1-9).
Prior to the match, Southern Vermont celebrated the hard work and success of its three senior members: Michelle Flores (Pico Rivera, California), Samantha Hastings (Kingston, New York), and Lixsa Arlet Sandoval (Stockton, California). The game also acted as the team's 'Think Pink' day in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Both teams return to their home pitches on Tuesday for 3:30 p.m. conference contests, the Mountaineers hosting Becker College while the Mariners welcome Lesley University.