SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Goals from five different players, including two each from Avia Jacobs and Jamie Collings, helped lift the Mount Holyoke College soccer team to a 7-1 victory over Bay Path College on Tuesday evening. The win moves the Lyons to 5-4-0 overall, while the Wildcats are now 4-3-0 on the season.
Mount Holyoke struck quickly in the opening stanza on back-to-back tallies from Jacobs (Calabasas, Calif./Sierra Canyon). Just 1:59 into the match, second-year forward Sara Sanaú Ruiz (Zaragoza, Spain/P.P. Dominicos-Cardenal Xavierre) sent a quick pass from the right top of the box over a pair of defenders. Jacobs got slightly ahead of the Bay Path line on the left and fired it in at the right corner.
The duo combined for the second tally at 4:30 after Sanaú Ruiz barreled down the right side near the end line, firing a long cross into the box. Jacobs was there at the left post to settle and shoot the ball into the corner.
MHC went on another quick burst in the middle of the stanza, rattling off three goals in less than five minutes. Sophomore midfielder Dale Leonheart (Petaluma, Calif./St. Vincent de Paul) got things going in the 21st minute, firing the ball into the left corner off a shot from the top of the box.
First year forward Hannah Finn-Erb (Northampton, Mass./Northampton), who earned the assist on Leonheart's tally, picked up her second helper of the evening in the 23rd minute. Playing the ball down the middle, Finn-Erb collided with Bay Path keeper Alma Rizvani (Prospect, Conn./Woodland Regional), who had come out to play the ball. Junior midfielder Liz Rose (South Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) corralled the loose ball on the right side, sending it into the open net.
Finn-Erb went on to make it a 5-0 advantage at the 25 minute mark, sending a bullet shot in at the left post. The Lyons grabbed one more goal before halftime, this time off the foot of Collings (Gainsville, Fla./Eastside). Speeding in on the left flank, Collings fired a shot in on Rizvani, who dove to make the stop. The ball came loose to Collings, who buried it in on the right side.
In the second half of action, the Wildcats got on the board following a Mount Holyoke foul in the box. First year defender Joanna Feliciano (Springfield, Mass./Renaissance) squared off against Lyons keeper Amanda Manaster (Beverly Hills, Calif./Beverly Hills) for the penalty kick, which she buried into the left corner.
The Lyons wrapped up the scoring in the 61st minute on an outstanding effort by Collings. Navigating down the left line, he ducked around multiple defenders before firing in a shot from the top of the box, which curved in at the right corner.
Manaster picked up the victory in goal for the Lyons, stopping three shots. For the Wildcats, Rizvani shouldered the loss, making seven saves in the opening half. First year Caitlyn Esposito (East Haven, Conn./East Haven) played the second half, making two stops.
Mount Holyoke returns to action on Saturday, opening up October on the road against MIT at 6pm. The Wildcats are also on the road on Saturday, facing Wheelock at 12pm.
Photo courtesy of RJB Sports Photography.
