Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – Forwards Nicole Leonard (Rutherford, NJ) and Daniela Marchitto (Orange) scored three minutes apart midway through the first half and the Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer team rolled to a 6-1 win over Saint Joseph College (CT) for its second win in two days Saturday night at its own Warrior Classic at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
Ranked No. 14 nationally in the pre-season, Eastern (3-0) stretched its unbeaten regular-season streak to 21, dating back to the final regular-season match of 2009.
In the first meeting between the programs, Eastern outshot Saint Joseph (1-1) by nearly 2-to-1 and limited its opponent to just one corner kick for the second straight game.
Seven different players contributed to the scoring for Eastern, with Marchitto scoring twice and assisting once and Leonard scoring once and assisting once. Sisters Tamar and Jo-Ann Merheb (Bethel) each contributed a goal and freshman Rachael Skinner recorded her first career point when she set up Jo-Ann Merheb's goal in the 69th minute with a give-and-go.
In two tournament wins, Eastern outscored its opponents 10-2 and more than doubled their shot total. Marchitto had three goals and two assists, Leonard two goals and an assist and Jo-ann Merheb two goals. Junior keeper Mackenzie MacLeod (Northfield) played all 180 minutes in net to improve to 5-0-1 in her career. She made eight saves, all coming against Saint Joseph.
Coming off Friday's 1-0 overtime win over Manhattanville College, Saint Joseph scored its goal in the 58th minute on Nicole Mendelson's free kick which hit the cross bar and settled over the goal line.
This year marked the return of the Warrior Classic, which had run between 1987 (the second year of the program) through 1989. In those three years, the Warriors won five of six matches (all by shutout) and two titles.
Fitchburg State U. 4, Manhattanville 1
The Fitchburg State University women's soccer team traded 4-1 decisions at the Warrior Classic over the weekend, downing Manhattanville College Saturday night at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
Fitchburg (1-1) outshot Manhattanville (0-2) 22-4 Saturday and amassed an 11-4 advantage in corner kicks against the Valiants, who had only two substitutes and were playing without starting f forward Adriana Ruano, who injured her right ankle in Friday's 1-0 overtime loss to Saint Joseph College (CT).
Carissa Kennedy's second tournament goal gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead late in the first half after a Manhattanville defender inadvertently put the ball in her own net in the 11th minute to give Fitchburg a 1-0 lead.
Kayla Bridges set up Fitchburg's second and third goals. She sent Kennedy a through-ball for the breakaway second goal and found Hannah Mitchell umarked with a corner kick to make it 3-1 in the 71st minute, The Valiants had cut Fitchburg's lead in half with their only tournament goal early in the second half when Morgan Rebollal headed in Sonia Occionero's crossing pass inside the left post.
The Falcons were able to dominate play despite playing without starting midfielder Julie Dowson and starting back Megan Macomber, both of whom were injured in Friday night's 4-1 loss to host Eastern Connecticut.
