Women’s Soccer Edged by Johnson & Wales, 4-1

EAST BOSTON, Mass. – Suffolk women's soccer could not overcome a two-goal half-time deficit as Johnson & Wales pushed past the Rams, 4-1, Wednesday evening at James A. Sartori Stadium at East Boston Memorial Park. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 1, Johnson & Wales 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (4-6-0, 3-5-0 GNAC) | Johnson & Wales (12-2-0, 8-0-0 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENDED
Johnson & Wales commanded the opening portion of the first frame peppering Suffolk keeper Julia Fieldsend with multiple attempts. The sophomore denied the Wildcats until late in the half when Deja Hursey broke open the scoring in the 37th minute. With just over one minute remaining before half time, JWU struck again with Hursey setting up Gabriella Weithofer to send the Rams into intermission down two.

Out of the break, JWU continued to control the tempo and added onto its lead with Hursey's second goal of the night to take a three-goal lead. 

Suffolk turned the tides at the midway point and point on the pressure. The tenacity paid off as the Rams trimmed the deficit to two in the 71st minute. Jessica Harmon's attempt was turned aside, but Alexandra Nagri was there to put the rock away. 

The Rams could not make up any more ground and JWU tacked on an insurance goal late to walk away with the 4-1 conference victory. 

GOALS

• Hursey picked up the ball off a Rams defender and caught Fieldsend off balance and connected in the left corner. The junior forward's 17th goal of the season came in the 37th minute.
• With Fieldsend out of position in an attempt to stop a Wildcats attack, the visitors took advantage. From the left Hursey found Weithofer, who scored on the open net at the 43:53-minute mark. The senior's third goal of the year push JWU's lead to 2-0.
• Hursey had a one-on-one opportunity with Fieldsend in the 57th minute and the Wildcat connected for her second strike of the day with a high kick out of Fieldsend's grasp to stretch JWU's advantage to 3-0.
• Nagri rebounded Harmon's saved shot and slipped the ball past Colleen Lynch to end the shutout.
• The Wildcats responded with a put back of their own with Erin Quinty picking up the pieces of Olivia Cairrao's saved attempt to extended the visitors cushion back to three with less two minutes on the clock.

KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS

• Fieldsend ended the night with 15 saves in the setback, dipping to 3-4-0 on the season.
• Lynch stopped three shots in between the pipes for the Wildcats, improving to 12-2 on the year. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Johnson & Wales held a commanding lead in shots, 25-8, including a 20-4 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Wildcats had every corner kick opportunity in the outing with three. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Nagri pushed her point streak to four straight games. During the stretch the senior captain has recorded 13 points on five goals and one assis.
• Fieldsend matched her career high in saves with 15.

POST-GAME PIC

COMING UP
Suffolk hosts Rivier Saturday, Oct. 14 in the third annual Rams Fan Fest. Festivities begin at 12:30 p.m. with a tailgate with the women's soccer game opening the action on James A. Sartori Stadium's turf and the men's squad entertaining Norwich at 4 p.m. Prior to first kick of the women's contest, Suffolk' nine graduating seniors will be honored for their playing careers at Suffolk.