SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The American International College women's soccer team recorded a, 2-0, victory over Bentley University in Northeast-10 action this evening on Senior Night from a rain soaked Abdow Field.
The Jackets improve to 12-5-1 to end the regular season with a 10-3-1 mark in the NE-10 good for a third place finish. The Falcons conclude their season with a 4-10-2 mark and a 2-10-1 conference record and will miss the playoffs.
Under a heavy rain that remained steady throughout the contest the teams struggled to find consistency early as they studied the field conditions to determine how the turf would play for the duration of the night.
AIC began to control possession after an opening ten minute period of back-and-forth play between the thirties as they registered the first real scoring chance in the 11th minute.
It was freshman Federica Frew (Melbourne, Australia) who sent a ball through the seam into the left side of the box to connect with classmate Emilia Hed (Dalarna, Sweden), however, her bid to pick the near post went just wide and the game remained scoreless.
The two again nearly tilted the game in favor of the Jackets as Hed had a pair of shots near the top of the box blocked before the ball found the foot of Frew and the Aussie fired toward the right post, but Falcon sophomore keeper Deirdre Macrorie (Winchester, Mass.) made a diving save in the 23rd minute to preserve the scoreless tie which remained heading into halftime.
Junior Merissa Phipps (Monson, Mass.) checked into the game to start the second half and ignited the Yellow Jacket offense by creating scoring chances with some fancy footwork and it eventually paid off in the 50th minute.
Freshman Johanna Nilsson (Ulricehamn, Sweden) found Phipps on the far right side of the field and she juked around a defender into the box and fired far post for the 1-0 lead.
AIC continued to pressure and senior Alyssa Werbicki (Chicopee, Mass.) created a two-goal advantage as she demonstrated some impressive moves to free herself up for a shot, but her bid from the top of the box in the 55th minute was met by a diving Macrorie to keep the game in check.
The Yellow Jackets would manage some insurance later in the half as Hed created a rush up the box with a pass to sophomore Taylor Souza (New Bedford, Mass.) in the middle and as Macrorie came out to defend she chipped it to the right post for junior Jessica Margaretta (Coloniers, France) who finished with ease into the empty net for the 2-0 score in the 75th minute.
The hosts held the commanding lead in shots 25-9 (9-2 SOG) while also controlling corner kicks 5-1.
Graduate student Rachel Edgin (Whitesboro, N.Y.) collected a pair of saves while recording her league-best ninth shutout of the season while Macrorie stopped seven shots and fell to 4-9-2 on the season in the setback.
American International closes the regular season and will either be the number three seed or four seed in the upcoming Championship Tournament and will host a Quarterfinal game on Tuesday evening with opponent and time to be announced after the regular season concludes this weekend.
