MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Union College women's soccer team controlled play for much of the evening and held advantages in almost every area except the most important one, as the Garnet Chargers could not overcome a slow start in a 2-1 loss to Eastern Connecticut State University on Wednesday at Rich McCarthy Field.
Union (2-3-2) outshot Eastern Connecticut (6-1-0) by an 18-5 margin and took 10 corners while conceding only one, but the visitors could not get back to even after allowing two goals in the first 14 minutes.
Faith Corona had both goals for the Warriors, scoring first just 2:25 into the game and then striking again from the penalty spot in the middle of the 14th minute. ECSU did not have a shot for the remainder of the half after the second goal and sent only two shots toward goal in the entirety of the second half.
Union started to pressure the EastConn defense after Corona's first goal and continued to press after the second tally. In the 20th minute, senior
Taylor Bovardi finally broke through with her second goal of the season, scoring off a pass from junior
Julia Bancheri. The Garnet Chargers put three more shots on-target in the opening half, but a pair of Alex Ignatowicz saves and one team stop kept the home team in front.
After an 11-3 edge in shots over the first 45 minutes, Union took seven shots to ECSU's two in the second stanza. The visitors pressed forward in the later stages in an attempt to find the elusive equalizer, but Ignatowicz made four second-half saves – including a pair in quick succession on senior
Ashley Sheldon and sophomore
Kayla Coviello in the 89th minute – to secure the win.
Ignatowicz finished the day with nine saves for Eastern Connecticut, while senior
Maya Koster made one save and allowed just the one goal in the run of play for the visitors.
Union will look to shake off the loss this weekend, when the team begins Liberty League play on Saturday with a 2 p.m. match against Clarkson University at College Park Field.
