South Hadley, Mass. - September 18, 2021 - Junior forward Fionna Kennedy (Wilton, N.H.) found the back of the net in the second half but the Mount Holyoke College soccer team fell to visiting Springfield College, 9-1, to open New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play at the MHC Soccer Field on Saturday.
Mount Holyoke College is now 1-3 on the year and starts conference play with an 0-1 mark, while the Pride levels out at 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the NEWMAC.
Sophomore goalkeeper Shannon Breen (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) got the start for the Lyons and made nine stops over 90 minutes of action. Amelia Harper started for Springfield and earned her second win of the season in just 45 minutes of play before both Taryn Ryan and Bridget O'Connor came on in the second half to preserve the win for the Pride.
Springfield College owned a 46-4 shot advantage over 90 minutes of play, while the Pride was awarded nine corner kicks. Springfield also committed nine fouls to the Lyons' three.
Springfield got on to the board just 4:15 into the contest when Kaleigh Dale ripped a shot on net from the top of the box, which was blocked, but the senior picked up the loose ball and connected with a left-footed shot to the bottom right corner of the net, making it 1-0, Pride.
With 8:46 to play in the half the Pride pushed its lead to a pair when Kellie Smith took a shot that hit the cross bar, but as the ball was coming down, Maddie Bailey headed it into the netting to make it 2-0, Springfield.
The Pride added its third of the contest with 1:34 on the clock as Heather Jennato sent in a corner kick before Cassidy Bailey fought for position and headed the ball into the right side of the net to give Springfield a 3-0 cushion after 45 minutes of play.
Springfield added a pair of goals early on in the second half to push its lead to five as Bailey added her second of the game on another corner from Jennato just 4:09 into the frame, before Jennato set up Alyana Sosa for her first goal of the season just 1:59 later.
With 38:28 left, Mount Holyoke College got on the score sheet as Rocio Perez-Salas (Dorado, Puerto Rico) sent a long pass to Kennedy who snuck past the Pride's last defender and slipped a shot past Ryan to make it 5-1.
Springfield would then add a pair more just 1:09 apart from one another as Reina Araujo picked up a rebound off of her own bid before converting into the empty net, before Jen Walker ripped a shot off the cross bar which came down in front of the goal line before rolling acrosse to push the Pride's lead to six. With just under 22 minutes to go, Adalia Malick added her first of the season as she beat her defender wide right before drilling a shot past Breen to make it 8-1, Pride. Springfield wrapped up the day's scoring with 13:49 to play as Marissa Martino picked up a loose ball at the top of the Lyons' box and rolled one through a pair of defenders.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will travel to Mitchell for a 4 p.m. contest on Tuesday, September 21.
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