BENNINGTON, Vt. - Powered by a pair of first half goals, the Mount Holyoke College soccer team opened its 2015 campaign with a 2-1 victory at Southern Vermont. The Lyons were dominant on both the offensive and defensive sides, posting 24 shots, while holding the Mountaineers to just six.
MHC opened the scoring in the 10th minute as first year Sara Sanaú Ruiz (Zaragoza, Spain/P.P. Dominicos - Cardenal Xavierre) posted her first collegiate goal. After a handball call in the box against Southern Vermont, the Lyons were awarded a penalty kick, which Sanaú Ruiz buried past goalie Melissa Mascari.
The host Mountaineers battled back less than eight minutes later as Lauren Nesshoever blasted home a pass down the left side from Molly Madore to tie the game at 1-all.
The two teams remained deadlocked until the 27th minute when sophomore Liz Rose (South Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) converted a feed into the open right side of the net off a feed from classmate Jentrie Grissom (North Ogden, Utah/Weber).
Neither team found the back of the net in the second half, but the Lyons remained dominant on both ends of the field, finishing the contest with a 24-6 advantage in shots, including a 15-5 margin on goal. MHC also held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Sanaú Ruiz led all players, posting nine shots (five on goal) with a goal. Liz Rose added four shots, two of which went on goal, while senior Ashleigh Hartsock (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island) had three shots and sophomore captain Suz Rose (South Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) each added three shots in the game.
For Southern Vermont, Nesshoever had three shots, while Madore added the other three.
In goal, junior captain Zoe Marshall (Mississauga, Ont./Cawthra Park Secondary School) made four saves for her first win of 2015, while her counterpart, Mascari stopped 12 shots in her season debut.
Mount Holyoke returns to action on Saturday in a 2pm game at Nichols College. The Mountaineers are back on the pitch on Friday with a 2pm contest at Norwich University.
