No. 1 Wheaton (Ill.) 2, Carthage 1
WHEATON, Ill. -- Wheaton (Ill.), ranked No. 1 according to this week's NSCAA Coaches' Poll, defeated Carthage 2-1 on Wednesday at Joe Bean Stadium.
The two teams played to a scoreless first half, despite Wheaton out-shooting the Lady Reds 10-2. Carthage took the lead early in the second half as the Lady Reds took advantage of an opportunity well in front of the goal. Wheaton goalkeeper Alexa Sharkey deflected the ball outside of the box; however, Carthage's Rachel Post collected the ball and scored her fifth goal of the year to give the Lady Reds a 1-0 lead at the 52:44 mark of the match.
Wheaton countered with consistent pressure on the Carthage defense and it paid off with a goal from five yards out of net by Leah DeMoss that was assisted on a well-placed pass by Annie Wooldridge at the 64:15 mark of the match. Wheaton maintained its pressure and Thunder sophomore Annie Wooldridge was fouled about two yards inside the 18-yard box and she was awarded a penalty kick. Wooldridge converted the penalty kick at the 66:54 mark of the match to give Wheaton its 2-1 lead. Wheaton out-shot the Lady Reds 11-2 in the second half.
The Thunder owned a 21-4 advantage in shots during the match and Wheaton owned an 8-1 edge in corner kicks. Thunder goalkeeper Kelsey Graham started and played the majority of time in the net for the Thunder, making two saves, with no goals allowed in 76 minutes. Alexa Sharkey played 14 minutes, with no saves and one goal allowed. Carthage goalkeeper Abby Alm played all 90 minutes, making six saves, with two goals allowed.
The match was the conference opener for both teams as Wheaton remains undefeated with a 10-0-0 record and a 1-0-0 mark in CCIW play. Carthage is now 6-2-0 on the year and 0-1-0 in conference action.
No. 6 Ithaca 1, No. 9 Misericordia 0
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sixth-ranked Ithaca (9-1-0, 3-0 E8) defeated No. 9 Misericordia (7-2-1) on Wednesday, shutting out the Cougars by a score of 1-0 at Carp Wood Field. Senior Ellyn Grant-Keane scored the lone goal for the Bombers, while sophomore Beth Coppolecchia stopped all seven shots she faced for her fourth individual shutout of the season.
Grant-Keane scored the lone goal of the contest in the 10th minute, taking a feed from fellow senior Jessie Warren off a scrum at the top of the box. Grant-Keane's goal marked her first of the season, and gave Ithaca the early 1-0 advantage.
Both teams exchanged scoring chances for the remainder of the contest, with the Cougars owning a 4-2 shot advantage in the second frame. Despite the pressure from Misericordia, Coppolecchia stood strong to secure the 1-0 shutout victory.
No. 10 Montclair State 6, Rutgers-Newark 0
NEWARK, N.J. -- Senior forward Jessica Kiniery posted her first career hat trick as unbeaten Montclair State extended the best start in program history with a 6-0 New Jersey Athletic Conference win against Rutgers-Newark on Alumni Field.
The Red Hawks (10-0-0, NJAC 3-0-0), ranked 10th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and sixth by D3Soccer.com, posted their ninth shutout in 10 matches. Montclair State has yielded only a penalty kick goal while allowing just 53 total shots.
Rutgers-Newark (3-6-1, NJAC 0-3-0) stayed close until the second half, trailing just 2-0 entering the 57th minute, but the Red Hawks' 29-3 advantage in shots took its toll as the MSU netted three goals in the final 10 minutes to turn it into a blowout.
Junior goalkeeper Gina Policastro was handed her sixth shutout of the season by a Red Hawk defensive while yielded just three shots -– none of which were on goal.
Junior forward Francesca Gibson tallied the game winner just 3:22 into the match by putting away a cross from deep on the left side from junior midfielder Melanie Greco. Kiniery made it 2-0 at the break by splitting two defenders and firing a shot inside the right post in the 20th minute.
In the second half, junior forward Kerry Glynn dribbled between two defenders on a long run through the middle and put a shot over Raider sophomore goalkeeper Diana Aviles in the 58th minute. Kiniery followed with back-to-back breakaway goals just 1:26 minutes apart to make it 5-0 in the 83rd minute. Gibson put away a cross from the middle by sophomore midfielder Shawna Grabowski in the 84th minute to cap the late MSU outburst.
Aviles made six saves for the Raiders who lost for the fifth consecutive time.
