Golden Bears leap frog Seahawks

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 15, 2019) – The Western New England University women's soccer team scored a goal in each half to earn a 2-0 victory over Salve Regina University on Tuesday afternoon in CCC action at Suprenant Field.

Top Performers
Junior Lauren Leblanc (Belchertown, Mass.) and sophomore Vanessa Chiarella (Hampden, Mass.) provided the offense for Western New England with one goal each, while senior goalkeeper Alex Lemekha (Stamford. Conn.) recorded three saves in the shutout victory.

Game Review
Western New England took an early lead seven minutes into the game, when Leblanc ripped a shot from 25 yards out that snuck past the Salve Regina goalkeeper.

Salve Regina's best chance of the game came inside the first 10 minutes of the second half, when forward Carah Cote (Adams, Mass.) found herself open in the middle of the box. Cote took a shot that forced Lemekha to make an acrobatic save to preserve the lead for the Golden Bears

In the 69th minute, the Golden Bears were awarded a penalty kick following a handball from the Seahawks in their own penalty area. Chiarella stepped up and buried her attempt into the bottom left corner to give the Golden Bears the 2-0 lead and seal the win.

Notes

• With the win, the Golden Bears jumped the Seahawks in the CCC standings, moving into fourth place.
• Western New England outshot Salve Regina, 14-7, with a 10-3 edge in shots on goal.

Up Next
Western New England (6-7-2) travels to the University of New England on Saturday afternoon for a pivotal CCC match. Salve Regina (7-8) returns home to play Becker in non-conference action on Thursday.