Hosting the Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology at the Brigham Athletic Complex today in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) quarterfinals, the Fighting Scots tallied a goal in each half to secure a 2-0 victory over their guests and advance to next round.
Lexi Potter and
Devin Lacroix netted a goal apiece in the win while keeper
Giselle Maso needed just one save to preserve the shutout. Her counterpart, Christie Fleming (Sr./Braintree, Mass.), registered six saves in 90 minutes of work for the Leopards.
As both teams settled in there was very little offense from either side, with the Scots posting just two shots to Wentworth's zero in the first 15 minutes of action. That all changed in the 16th minute, though, when
Ashton Barkey pushed a perfectly weighted through ball to Potter, who calmly one-timed it past an onrushing Fleming into the right corner pocket for the 1-0 lead. Gordon continued to press for the remainder of the half with several quality scoring opportunities– including a corner header from
Monet Marshall that just missed– but couldn't convert and went into the break with the slight one-goal edge.
Wasting no time getting going in the second,
Asha Steele served up a short corner to Lacroix at the right edge of the box, who settled and fired a blistering shot over the reaching hands of Fleming to give Gordon the 2-0 advantage just 42 seconds in. From there it was the Scots' ballgame, as they maintained the majority of possession and held an 8-1 shot advantage in the remainder of the frame to seal the W.
With the University of New England having won its quarterfinal matchup today 4-0 over Salve Regina University, the Scots will host the Nor'easters in the semifinal round on Wednesday, October 31.
Beyond the Box Score
- Lexi Potter has not gone back-to-back games this season without recording a goal.
- Devin Lacroix's goal was her fifth of the year and is a new career-high for goals.
- Said Head Coach Chuck Breton: "Playoffs are always tough games. Our conference is so well balanced this year where everyone is beating everyone. So we went into this game knowing WIT was much better than a No. 77 seed and they certainly showed that today. It was a good result as the girls did a great job of committing to our purpose and style. In the first half we gave them a bit too much room to operate making it more difficult than we needed to. We gave the ball away too easily as well. But the team executed our halftime adjustments very well and tightened up our play and touches. I was really proud of how well we defended as a team and gave up just the three shots. We look forward to the very difficult challenge of playing UNE in the semis on Wednesday."
