Women's Soccer Blanks Mitchell on the Road Thursday, 3-0

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's soccer team dominated possession in its first road match of the 2023 season and was rewarded with a shutout victory, defeating the Mitchell College Mariners, 3-0, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action Thursday afternoon in New London. Sophomore forward Alana Picard (Windsor Locks, Conn.) registered her first career multi-goal game, finishing with a pair of goals to help power the Blue Jays to the win. With the triumph, the Blue Jays improve to 3-2-0 overall and remain perfect in GNAC play at 3-0-0, while the Mariners drop to 2-2-1 overall and 0-2-1 in league action.

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Jays looked to start quicky and nearly netted the game's opening goal just 2:08 into the contest. USJ's midfield played a pass forward to senior midfielder Marisa Brough (Cheshire, Conn.) who turned and slotted a through ball up to junior forward Kelsi Ursini (Groton, Conn.). Ursini took a touch, cut back, and attempted a try with her right foot, but Mitchell's junior goalkeeper Gemma Landry (Lewiston, Maine) was there to make a nice diving save.
• The next several minutes were mostly played in the middle of the field, until Mitchell recorded its first shot on goal at the 9:04 mark. A long ball was lofted into the near corner before being tracked down by a Mitchell forward and immediately crossed into the 18-yard box. Freshman forward Haley Jeske (Maricopa, Ariz.) was able to get on the end of it and get a low shot off, but USJ's freshman keeper Madison Corcoran (Bristol, Conn.) was there to make an easy stop.
• USJ began to gain its footing in the match and from the 10th minute forward, dominated most of the possession over the remainder of the first half, while creating multiple scoring chances.
• In the 31st minute, graduate student midfielder Elizabeth Garlock (Meriden, Conn.) crossed in a ball that was chested down by Brough. Brough followed by laying a pass back to Picard at the top of the box and she had a go on net, but her shot attempt was deflected before Landry made a full-extension save to keep the match scoreless.
• Picard tried her luck once again three minutes later. After tracking a ball down on the right wing, she rifled a close-range shot with her right foot, but Landry was there once again to stonewall the attempt with a two-handed save.
• The match appeared destined to be scoreless at halftime, but Picard and the Blue Jays finally broke through with less than a minute to play before the intermission. Freshman midfielder Julia Freimuth (Terryville, Conn.) connected with Brough in the midfield before Brough chipped an arching pass up the right side of the field. The pass allowed Picard to sprint past a Mitchell defender and run onto the ball. She took one touch before slipping a low shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal and past a diving Landry to put the Blue Jays up 1-0 entering the break.
• USJ picked up right where it left off the first half to start the second half and doubled its lead 1:58 into the final stanza. Ursini settled a ball near midfield and passed over to senior midfielder Jelly Frigo (Hartford, Conn.). Mitchell's backline was sucked forward and Frigo was able to split a pair of Mariners' defenders with a through ball that left Picard one-on-one with Landry. Picard used one dribble to the right to pull Landry off her line before finishing into the left side netting to make it 2-0 at the 46:58 mark.
• The Blue Jays tacked on an extra insurance goal in the 56th minute off a set piece. Junior midfielder Jenna Zup (Berlin, Conn.) played a corner kick short up the right wing to freshman defender Charlotte Dunleavy (Durham, Conn.). Dunleavy immediately played the ball back to Zup near the corner and she took one touch before curling a perfect cross to the back post. The cross found Garlock unmarked, and she was able to finish into the open net to account for the 3-0 final margin of victory.

NOTES

• The Blue Jays outshot the Mariners overall in the match, 20-5, including 11-2 in shots on goal.
• Zup and Picard led USJ's offensive attack with five shots each. Zup landed two of her six shots on frame, while Picard was a perfect five-for-five.
• USJ held a slight edge in corner kick opportunities, 5-0.
• Corcoran played the full 90 minutes between the posts and recorded her first career clean sheet for the Blue Jays. She finished with two saves to preserve the shutout, earn the win, and improve to 3-1-0 on the year.
• Landry also played the full time in goal for Mitchell. She was dealt the loss (2-2-1) and stopped eight of the 11 shots on goal faced in the contest.
• Today's match marked the first meeting between the two Nutmeg State programs since September 4, 2013. The Blue Jays won that meeting 7-0 in New London and are now 4-0 against the Mariners, who joined the GNAC as a core member this year, since 2010.

UP NEXT

Women's soccer has a quick turnaround and returns to West Hartford for a home GNAC match on Saturday, September 16 versus Simmons University. Kickoff between the Blue Jays and Sharks is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on the USJ Soccer Field.

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