BENINGTON, Vt. — The Southern Vermont College women's soccer team is headed back to the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) semifinals for the second straight year as the third-seeded Mountaineers shut out No. 6 Newbury College 4-0 Tuesday afternoon in a first round playoff game at Everett Field.
Southern Vermont took to the scoreboard in the opening five minutes of play before the remainder of the first half went scoreless. SVC padded its lead early into the second period and added another pair for a comfortable advantage through the rest of the match.
The win improves Southern Vermont's season mark to 11-6-1, tying the program's all-time wins record (11-5-2 in 2012). Newbury ends the year at 5-11-1 overall.
Mountaineer freshman Molly Madore (Higganum, Conn.) scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal, her third of the season, while classmate Ally McNamee (Freehold, N.J.) provided the assist and then an insurance goal to start the second half. Fellow freshman Naya Cerda (West Islip, N.Y.) had two helpers on the day as sophomore keeper Melissa Mascari (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) made seven saves for her sixth shutout of the year.
SVC now heads to Elms College on Thursday for an NECC semifinal match after No. 2 EC beat seventh-seeded Regis College by a 2-0 margin.
The Mountaineers struck first just 4:55 into the match, getting in behind the Nighthawk defense with a long carry by McNamee through the attacking zone. She took it all the way from the midfield to the top of the box where she played a nice through ball to Madore; Madore took a touch before firing a shot high into the right, near-side part of the goal for her 15th tally of the season and the early Southern Vermont advantage.
Newbury started to get some momentum with its offense as the half continued, nearly tying the game with about 20 minutes left to go before intermission. A Nighthawk free kick was awarded on the right edge of the field about 40 yards away from goal, and the ball was sent through the SVC defense to the back post on the left side; no NC player could get a touch on it, however, as the ball carried wide of the frame and over the line for a goal kick. Neither side could get one into the net as the stanza wound down, sending the match to halftime with the Mountaineers still holding their 1-0 advantage.
SVC came out of the break with good pace and registered a fast insurance goal, benefitting from a corner in the 47th minute. Junior Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.) took the kick on the left side of the field, sending it to the near post on a fly. Cerda got the ball on her foot about 10 yards away from net and played it up to an onside McNamee; the Mountaineer freshman squared around and one-timed the pass into the back of the goal, slotting her third score of the season into the left side for the 2-0 lead.
Cerda recorded her second assist in the 60th minute to extend SVC's upper hand, launching the ball into the middle of the box on a throw-in deep down the right touchline. It bounced through a pack of players from both sides before senior captain Katelyn Raymond (Bristol, Conn.) met it near the far post and pushed home her first goal of the season and third of her career to make it 3-0.
Just over a minute later, NC had a great chance when sophomore Shannon Walsh (Massapequa, N.Y.) got the ball near the top of the SVC penalty area. She let a shot rip high on frame, but Mascari was able to leap up and punch the ball over the crossbar to preserve the shutout. Newbury attempted to press forward in the hopes of cutting the deficit as the half played on, only to see the Mountaineer defense play tight enough to prevent any golden opportunities.
Nesshoever got in on the scoring in the final minute, taking advantage of the aggressive push up the field by the Nighthawks. She got the ball just over the center line and maneuvered around NC defenders before having to flick it over Newbury senior keeper Elizabeth Fox (Orono, Maine) who had come out about halfway through her end of the field; Nesshoever collected the self-pass and converted the long shot into the empty net, her ninth of the season all but sealing the victory. Fox finished the day with two saves.
Mascari's shutout total on the year ties the second-best single season mark by a Mountaineer keeper, SVC Hall of Famer Thalia Smith putting up six in 1997. Mascari now has 11 clean sheets in her two-year career, also tying her with Smith for the second most in that category, to be just one shy of the all-time career record of 12 (Denise Welch). Madore's 15 goals this season tie her at second for a single campaign in Southern Vermont history, a rank shared by Rebecca Hopeck (1996) and Beth Sampson (1995).