NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Five different players found the net – including three in a crucial 17-minute span of the second half – as the Union College women's soccer team got back in the win column with a 5-2 victory over Smith College in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon at the Smith Soccer Field.
Coming off a pair of ties against nationally ranked opponents in which the Garnet Chargers scored just one goal, the offense finally broke through for Union (2-1-2) on Tuesday, led by senior
Hannah Sams with a goal and an assist. Sophomore
Lucy Riggs and first-year
Emily DeSousa scored their collegiate goals and both junior
Addison MacDonald and
Janalyn Weber added to the goal total as well for the visitors.
Union controlled play for much of the first half, outshooting Smith (0-4-1) by a 12-3 margin. The first 20 minutes reflected that control, as Weber scored in the 13th minute off a pass from senior
Taylor Bovardi and Sams added an unassisted goal just over six minutes later to double the Union advantage. However a late push got the Bears back into the game, as the home team hit one shot off the crossbar at the start of the 31st minute and then got a goal from Keala Barnes less than 40 seconds later.
Smith battled all the way back less than three minutes into the second half on a Helena Prusak goal, and suddenly the game was tied at two. But Union returned to form after that, conceding only one off-target shot the rest of the way while blitzing the Bears with three goals to regain control.
DeSousa's first collegiate goal was the eventual game-winning goal, coming in the 61st minute off a pass from senior
Ashley Sheldon. MacDonald followed with a goal of her own in the 67th minute, taking a feed from Sams and depositing her first tally of the season. Riggs finished off the offensive outburst in the 77th minute with her first collegiate tally, an unassisted goal.
Union outshot Smith by a 6-2 margin in the second half to post an 18-5 edge for the afternoon. Junior
Brooke Rosenshine was the beneficiary of the offensive explosion, playing all 90 minutes in goal to pick up her first collegiate victory.
Union will return to action on Saturday with a non-conference matchup at SUNY Oneonta beginning at 1 p.m.
