Women’s Soccer Advances to ECAC Tournament Final with 2-0 Victory over Wheaton
Framingham, Mass. – The fourth seed Framingham State University women's soccer tallied a pair of goals in the game's first six minutes en route to a 2-0 shutout victory over the top seed Wheaton Lyons this evening in one semifinal of the 2014 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Women's Soccer Tournament at Maple Street Field.
Framingham State took the lead with a pair of goals in the opening six minutes. Senior Marisa Parent (Revere, Mass.) sent a cross into the box that classmate Isabela DeSouza (Framingham, Mass.) redirected towards the net. After the ball deflected off a defender, senior Brini Varetimos (North Attleboro, Mass.) collected the loose ball and fired a shot into the back of net for her fifth of the season just 1:27 into the game. Sophomore Marissa Miele (Hudson, Mass.) doubled the advantage when she converted off a long feed on a direct kick from sophomore Angela Pallotta (Sterling, Mass.) at 5:29.
The Lyons had a pair of quality scoring chances in the second half to cut into the Rams lead, but both times junior goalkeeper Sara Sullivan (Quincy, Mass.) was able to make the clutch save. With 33 minutes remaining in the game, Lauren Corigliano took a thru ball behind the Rams defense and had a clean look at the net, but Sullivan made the diving stop. With just over ten remaining, Julia Cipriano took a quick throw in while the Rams were retreating and found a streaking Corigliano, but her bid again was stopped by Sullivan.
The Rams held a 16-9 advantage in shots and a 4-1 edge in corner kicks. Sullivan recorded her 11th victory in net this season after making four saves. Taylor Wilson was tagged with the loss for the Lyons allowing two goals with three saves in a half of action, while Ali Hinton made three saves in her half of work.
The Rams (14-7) advance to the finals of the ECAC Tournament on Sunday and will face the second seed University of New England who defeated third seed Westfield State University in the other semifinal earlier this afternoon. The Lyons see their season come to a close at 15-8-2.