Mitchell College Sports Roundup

Mitchell College fought Elms College to scoreless result on Tuesday, and dropped a volleyball match to Daniel Webster College. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College, and Chris Attwood, sports information director at Elms College:

Women's Soccer: Mitchell 0, Elms 0

Elms College sophomore midfielder Gianna Gorneault (Springfield, Mass.) registered five shots on goal and Mitchell College goalkeeper Kaylee Woodford (Niantic, Conn.) turned in a stellar performance between the pipes notching 13 saves as the sides battled to a 0-0 double overtime draw in Tuesday evening’s New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women’s soccer game at Leary Field.

With the tie, Elms moves to 3-3-3 overall, 0-1-2 in conference play, while Mitchell sits at 4-2-1 on the season, 2-0-1 in NECC action.

Elms controlled the pace of play from start to finish as the Blazers outshot Mitchell 20-1 in regulation.

The Mariners’ Maariyah Lombardo (Middletown, Conn.) put Mitchell’s only shot on target but was turned away by Elms’ senior goalkeeper Kelly Callahan (Monson, Mass.) in the first half keeping the score at 0-0.

Gorneault had three more opportunities in the first overtime period, including a header that sailed just over the crossbar in the 97th minute as all four of Elms’ shots in the frame went high.

The second stanza saw Gorneault blast a loose ball in front of the net that was blocked by Mitchell’s defense, and another shot by senior defender Brianna Valente (Springfield, Mass.) that corralled by Woodford to keep the Blazers from earning the victory.

Valente, sophomore defender Allyson Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and sophomore forward Christina Goodchild (East Longmeadow, Mass.) each contributed two shots on goal in the contest. 

Elms travels to North Adams, Mass. to take on Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in a non-conference match on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 4:00 p.m.

Volleyball: Daniel Webster 3, Mitchell 1

The Mitchell College women’s volleyball team lost its first NECC match of the season by a 3-1 final to Daniel Webster College on Tuesday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Daniel Webster (11-3 overall, 2-0 NECC) won by set scores of 21-25, 25-23, 25-8 and 25-13. Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) finished with a match-high 12 kills to pace the Eagles while Caitlyn DePierro (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) handed out 29 assists. Mitchell (5-3 overall, 0-1 NECC) was led by freshman Emily Stracuzzi (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) with six kills.

A slow start put the Mariners behind 6-4 early in the opening set, but Stracuzzi sparked the team from the service line with a pair of aces. Mitchell won seven of the next eight points to go ahead 11-7 and never trailed again. The Eagles later tied the set at 16-16, but back-to-back kills by junior Kendra Erskine (Bronx, N.Y./Saint Raymond) and senior Bianca Young (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) – along with a pair of DWC errors—gave Mitchell a 20-16 cushion on the way to the win.

The second set was closely contested throughout, as neither side took a lead bigger than three points. Mitchell held a slim lead at 21-19 but saw momentum slip away after being penalized a point for serving out of order. Daniel Webster took advantage by winning five of the next seven points to even the match, with Crawford delivering the final kill on set point.

The Eagles kept the pressure on and jumped out to a quick lead in the third set. Samantha Hill (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne) opened the set with four points from the service stripe and DePierro later followed with five more—including a pair of aces—as Daniel Webster grabbed an 11-2 advantage. The Eagles coasted from there as Crawford provided half of the squad’s 10 kills in the set.

Hill once again gave the Eagles a quick lead in the fourth set, serving for three aces en route to a 5-0 lead. The Mariners never recovered, and Amanda Wilson (Merrimack, N.J./Merrimack) later provided the finishing touch with her only kill of the night to end the match.

Mitchell will next host Regis College on Saturday, October 8 at 1 p.m. Daniel Webster returns to action at Mount Ida College on Thursday, October 6 at 6 p.m.