Nashua, NH – Rivier College controlled the flow of the
game for the entire 90 minutes of play to shut out the Hawks of
Becker College 5-0 today in women's soccer action. The Raiders
outshot the Hawks 22-5 and only allowed 2 shots on goal for the
Hawks. It was the second shutout of the season for Rivier, who
improved their record to 3-3 (1-1 GNAC) on the season, while Becker
drops to 2-3 (0-0 NECC).
The Raiders jumped on the board early when, just 5 minutes into
the game, freshman Morgan
Greene (Acworth, NH) took a free kick from the left
side of the box and placed the ball close to the near post where
freshman Sarah
Richard (Raymond, NH) was able to get a head on
it for the goal. Greene then assisted on the Raiders next goal as
she passed a ball from just past center of the field to a streaking
Kaitlyn
Souza (Wilmington, MA) who got past the defenders and
shot the ball into the left lower corner to put the Raiders up 2-0.
The Raiders continued to press on offense and got their next
scoring opportunity after a series of corner kick miscues. Junior
Meghan
Hickey (Hampstead, NH) took a corner kick that was
cleared back into her direction by the Hawks defense, Hickey then
set up and booted another kick from almost the same place, that was
again cleared by the defense back into her direction. The third
time was a charm as Hickey then lofted the ball a little higher
from the right sideline that bounced over the reach of the defense
and the keeper to find the foot of freshman Rebecca
Wickens (Tyngsboro, MA) for the goal. Less than 5
minutes later, Wickens led senior Heather
Lefebvre (Haverhill, MA) through the box for the
fourth goal of the half. The Raiders took a 4-0 lead into
halftime.
The second half was much like the first, with Rivier controlling
the tempo. Rivier was able to take six shots in the second frame,
but it was a corner kick that put the final goal up on the board.
Hickey placed a great corner into the middle of the box that a
Hawks defender jumped and tried to clear with her head,
unfortunately, the ball was sent into the wrong direction and found
the back of the net for an own goal to finish the scoring with
Rivier up 5-0. The Hawks were only able to get 1 late shot off in
the second half which went wide of the net.
Becker's Jodi Theriault (Woodstock, CT) and Morgan Hazen
(Woodstock, VT) were the only two players to get a shot on goal.
Rivier's Christine
Surber (Langdon, NH) made both saves in the first half
and took home the win. Surber was replaced in the second half by
Cassandra
Brown (Somersworth, NH) who didn't see a shot on goal.
Becker's Christina Boucher took the loss giving up all 5 goals and
recording 6 saves.
The Raiders will travel across town to take on rival Daniel
Webster College on Wednesday, September 22nd. The game is scheduled
to start at 4:15 PM. Meanwhile, Becker will travel to Nichols
College on the same day.