Women's Soccer Nets Eight Goals In First Win of the Season

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Behind hat tricks from both Alexandra Mahar and Christina Jando, the Mitchell College women's soccer team came away with an 8-3 victory over Fisher College on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.

The win was Mitchell's first of the season, and also the first in the coaching career of newcomer Chelsea Shaughnessy. The Mariners (1-1-2 overall) are unbeaten in their last three contests.

Mahar finished with three assists to go with her three scores, and Vannessa Ortiz and Jacquelyn White also netted goals to fuel the Mitchell attack. Fisher's Ashley De Sousa scored a pair of goals and Amanda Santiago recorded a goal and an assist in the loss.

Mahar had a hand in every goal in the first half as Mitchell led 3-0 at the break. She scored in the 10th minute from straight in front of the goal, sneaking in a shot under the crossbar. Three minutes later, she fed White from the right side for a shot inside the near post. Mahar later caught the goalie out of position and chipped in a ball from deep in the 40th minute.

The Falcons rallied back in the second half and made things interesting for a stretch. Julia Schojan, who broke through the Mitchell defense at numerous points, got things started by slipping a pass to Santiago inside the 18 for Fisher's first goal of the day. In the 73rd minute, De Sousa took a shot from the top of the box that tipped off a defender and found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 3-2.

The Mariners responded quickly, scoring three times over the next seven minutes to pull away. Mahar completed her hat trick in the 75th minute and then assisted on Jando's first goal in the 79th. Jando's first two scores came 31 seconds apart and left Mitchell with a 6-2 cushion.

De Sousa finished off a give-and-go with Santiago for Fisher's final goal in the 84th minute, but Mitchell tacked on a pair of insurance goals in the waning moments. Ortiz cleaned up her own rebound in the 87th minute for her first tally of the season, and Jando completed her hat trick in the 87th off another assist by Mahar.

Mitchell goalkeeper Katie McBride made eight saves in the game while Fisher's Paige Ciavarro finished with 11. The Mariners held a 31-18 advantage on shots in the contest despite being outshot 11-8 in the opening half. 

Mitchell will next host Albertus Magnus College on Tuesday, September 22 at 3 p.m. Fisher returns to action at home against Hampshire College on Tuesday, September 15 at 5 p.m.