NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Monroe College women’s soccer team won its fifth-straight game and improved to 5-1 on the season with a 3-0 shutout of archrival, ASA, on Tuesday night in New Rochelle. The team has outscored its opponents, 25-0, in its last three contests and has recorded three straight shutouts.
The tension in the air was thicker than the fog that blanketed City Park as the Avengers and Mustangs took the field in the latest installment of this bitter rivalry. The physical play was palpable early on and it was Monroe that pushed the attack in the first quarter hour. The Mustangs earned a penalty kick barely four minutes into the contest. Aline Delima blasted the ensuing free kick over the crossbar and the game remained scoreless.
ASA responded in the second 15 minute stretch by coming forward and advancing the attack into Monroe’s end. Following a turnover from the Avengers, Monroe flanked down the other side of the pitch and Elysa Varela found Maia Williams who put a shot past the lower left of the keeper for the game’s first goal. The Mustangs led 1-0 at 25:26.
ASA countered by attacking and nearly tied the score with 7:32 left. They got the ball into the penalty area and got past Jordan Wainwright. With a seemingly open net, the Avengers flicked the ball to goal, but Varela slid in and deflected the ball just past the goal post to keep ASA off the scoreboard. Exactly two minutes later, ASA nearly scored again. The Avengers earned a free kick and angled a ball towards the far side of the goal, Wainwright caught the ball and made a terriific save. On the ensuing offensive thrust, Monroe put the ball on the right side, where Brianna McGrath passed the ball to Nicole Rivera who scored. The Mustangs took a 2-0 lead into the half.
In the second half, Rivera nearly made the score 3-0 when her shot blasted off the crossbar, came straight down and landed on the outside of the goal line. It was cleared to safety. In the 85th minute, Delima blasted a shot from nine-yards out that hit the post and deflected away. The Mustangs were more fortunate at 86:35 when Brianna McGrath took a shot from an impossible angle and put the ball sinde the far post for the game’s final goal. Wainwright made another key save down the stretch to cement the win.
The Monroe College women’s soccer team returns to the pitch on Tuesday, October 6, when they host Essex County College. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
