Mitchell College Sports Roundup

Mitchell College split a pair of games against Newbury College on Saturday, with the women's team winning 3-0 while the men lost 1-0 in overtime. In other games, the Mariners defeated Lesley University in volleyball, lost to Regis College in women's tennis, and competed in the Invitational. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College:

Women's Soccer: Mitchell 3, Newbury 0

The Mitchell College women’s soccer team came out on top by a 3-0 margin against Newbury College on Saturday afternoon in a conference match-up at Alumni Field.

Mitchell (5-3-2 overall, 3-0-2 NECC) scored once in the first half and added a pair of insurance goals in the second half to remain unbeaten in conference play. The Mariners also found an answer to their scoring woes of late, netting as many goals against the Nighthawks (4-5-1 overall, 2-2-1 NECC) as they had in the previous four games combined.

Senior Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, Conn./Gilbert School) provided the only goal Mitchell would need in the 25th minute. Classmate Angie Smith (Meriden, Conn./Platt) started the play by firing a shot on goal from 30 yards out. Newbury goalkeeper Alexis Benton (Philadelphia, Pa./Eastern Regional) made the initial save but couldn’t hold onto the ball, and Hoxie cleaned up the rebound for her second goal of the season.

The Mariners led 1-0 at the halftime intermission and added their second goal in the 60th minute on another long shot from Smith. This time her attempt came from 25 yards out on the right side, and she drilled a line drive just over the keeper’s head and under the crossbar for her second tally of the season.

Freshman Maariyah Lombardi (Middletown, Conn./Middletown) provided the final goal in the 70th minute. Junior Malorie Klieber (Wantagh, N.Y./General Douglas MacArthur) sent a long ball over the top of the Newbury defense that Lombardo caught up to scored into the left corner of the goal. It was her team-leading sixth goal of the season.

Newbury had several chances to score in the contest but couldn’t take advantage. Kelsey Landry (Milford, N.H./Milford) put four shots on goal alone but was turned away each time by Mitchell keeper Kaylee Woodford (Niantic, Conn./Morgan School).

The Mariners held a 13-11 advantage in shots and a 4-1 edge in corner kicks. Woodford finished with seven saves to record her fifth clean sheet of the season. Benton, making her first start of the season in goal, recorded six saves.

Mitchell will next play at Lesley University on Tuesday, October 18 at 8 p.m. Newbury returns to action at home against Daniel Webster College on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Men's Soccer: Newbury 1, Mitchell 0

Nicholas Cataldo (Walpole, Mass./Sturgis Charter Public) propelled Newbury College to a 1-0 overtime victory over Mitchell College on Saturday afternoon in men’s soccer action at Alumni Field.

Cataldo was at the right place at the right time to score his first goal of the season. Teammate Shaundize Moosavizadeh (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) set the play up by sending a sliding pass from the right side across the mouth of the goal to the far post, where Cataldo was waiting to finish into an open net. The goal came in the 98th minute and kept Newbury (4-6-0 overall, 4-0-0 NECC) undefeated in conference play.

The loss was disheartening for the Mariners (3-8-1 overall, 1-3-0 NECC), who held a 19-9 advantage in shots and a 5-2 edge in corner kicks. Mitchell had opportunities to score in regulation but was turned away every time. Newbury goalkeeper William McNally (Grafton, Mass./Marian) finished with three saves in the contest and benefitted from some stellar play by his defense. The Nighthawks had three team saves in which a defender stopped a potential goal by clearing a shot off the line.

Mitchell goalkeeper Kevin Woodford (Niantic, Conn./Morgan School) finished with three saves.

Mitchell will next host Elms College on Tuesday, October 18 at 3:30 p.m. Newbury returns to action on Sunday, October 16 against Mount Ida College at 1 p.m. The game will be played at Pine Manor College.

Volleyball: Mitchell 3, Lesley 2

The Mitchell College women’s volleyball team picked up its first conference victory of the season by a 3-2 final over Lesley University on Saturday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Mitchell (6-6 overall, 1-4 NECC) won by set scores of 25-27, 25-22, 25-10, 19-25 and 15-11. Senior Bianca Young (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral), playing in the final regular season home match of her career, led the Mariners with 11 kills and five aces. Sophomore Gloria Charles (New Haven, Conn./Hillhouse) and freshman Jaclyn Tempkins (Nashville, Tenn./Currey Ingram Academy) each finished with seven kills apiece.

Danielle Johnson (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) led the Lynx (4-13 overall, 1-3 NECC) with a match-high 19 kills and also contributed 11 digs and four aces. Kaitlyn Miller (Leesport, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) pitched in with seven kills and a team-high 16 assists while Alyson Finbow (Fair Lawn, N.J./Fair Lawn) added seven kills and four aces.

The opening set was close throughout, but Lesley snapped a 25-25 tie behind a Mitchell error and a kill by Finbow to take the early lead. Mitchell responded by going up 5-0 in the second set and never trailed en route to a three-point win.

The Mariners got off to a good start once again in the third set, vaulting out to a 13-3 lead in what would become the most lopsided stanza of the night. Mitchell finished with 14 kills and seven service aces in the set to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Lynx didn’t go down without a fight in the fourth, responding with 11 kills to rally back and tie the match at 2-2. Johnson had six kills in the set alone, more than Mitchell had as a team.

The Mariners went up 6-1 early in the final set before the Lynx came back to tie the score at 10-10. Mitchell won the ensuing point on a quick-set attack by senior Marie Connelly (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman), and Stracuzzi followed with a kill down the line to push the lead to two. After a bad serve trimmed the lead to 12-11, the Mariners captured the next three points—including kills from Tempkins and senior Brittany Zaccaria (White Plains, N.Y./Maria Regina)—to win the match.

Mitchell finished with a team hitting percentage of .174 and produced a season-high 21 aces from the service stripe. Stracuzzi and Connelly handed out 19 and 12 assists, respectively, while sophomore Nicole Terni (Ledyard, Conn./Montville) contributed a match-high 19 digs and five aces.

Mitchell will close out the regular season with six straight road games, beginning at Eastern Connecticut State University on Monday, October 17 at 7 p.m. Lesley will next host Southern Vermont College on Wednesday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Women's Tennis: Regis 6, Mitchell 3

The Mitchell College women’s tennis team lost a conference match-up against Regis College by a 6-3 final on Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Courts.

Regis (5-7 overall, 5-4 NECC) won two of three doubles matches to take the early lead and clinched the victory by winning four of six singles matches. MJ Barron (Whitinsville, Mass./Holy Name) and Kendall Kolb (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) each won at both singles and doubles to pace the Pride on the day.

In doubles play, the duo of Elora Granados (Chillicothe, Texas/Chillicothe) and Paige Pasley (Dorchester, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) captured an 8-4 win at the top spot over Mitchell’s Mackenzie Flanagan (San Anselmo, Calif./San Domenico) and Amanda Resnick (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood). Barron and Kolb teamed up to bring home an 8-2 win at the second position, but the Mariners won 8-4 at the third spot behind the play of Marisa Haggett (Marlboro, Conn./Great Path Academy) and Jennifer Schmidt (Clarksburg, Mass./Drury).

Barron and Kolb carried their momentum into the singles competition. Barron topped Julie Embley (Lawrenceville, N.J./Allentown) by final scores of 6-2, 6-0 at the third position while Kolb outlasted Haggett 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) at the fourth spot. Caroline Roche (Hanover, Mass./Notre Dame) also picked up a point against Resnick (6-3, 6-0) at No. 2 singles while Erika Palmer (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin) earned Regis’ final win at No. 6 singles.

Mitchell’s singles wins came at the one and five positions. Flanagan defeated Granados in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) at the top spot while Schmidt topped Deidre Botsch (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) by a 6-1, 6-3 final.

Mitchell (1-10 overall, 0-9 NECC) will close out the regular season at home against Newbury College on Sunday, October 16 at 11 a.m. Regis will also close out the regular season at home on Sunday against Bay Path College at 2 p.m.

Cross Country Running

The Mitchell College men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the Conn College Invitational on Saturday morning at Harkness Memorial State Park.

The men’s team finished 14th out of 14 teams while the women’s team placed 16th in the field of 17. Southern Connecticut State University won the men’s race while Rutgers University took honors on the women’s side.

Freshman Sherif Ali (Cliffside Park, N.J./Cliffside Park) paced the Mitchell men with a time of 27:35 over the 8k course and finished 58th out of 211 runners. Classmate Bridget Burns (Clark, N.J./Bishop Ahr) finished 167th to lead the women’s squad, completing the 6k race in a time of 27:35.

Mitchell will next compete at the 2011 NECC Championship on Saturday, October 29 at Mines Falls Park in Nashua, N.H.