Women's Soccer Salvages Tie Against SVC

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Mitchell College and Southern Vermont College played to a 2-2, double-overtime draw on Monday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference women's soccer action at Alumni Field.

Mitchell jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the third minute on a finish from Taylor Silva. The play started when teammate Alexandra Mahar ripped a shot on frame that was saved by SVC keeper Melissa Mascari. However, Silva collected the rebound from Mahar's strike and netted her first goal of the season to give the Mariners the early advantage.

Southern Vermont evened the game in the 27th minute when Ally McNamee collected her own rebound following a shot on goal and fed a pass to Molly Madore, who finished her strike for the equalizer. Lauren Nesshoever nearly gave the Mountaineers the lead in the 42nd minute when she drilled a shot off the crossbar, but the teams went into the halftime break tied at 1-1.

Southern Vermont claimed a 2-1 advantage in the 56th minute on Madore's second goal of the game. Nesshoever serviced a through ball up the middle of the field that gave Madore a one-on-one chance with the keeper, and she finished her strike to the lower right side of the goal. The two goals increased her team-leading total to 12 on the season.

Mitchell answered in the 63rd minute with a goal from Vannessa Ortiz to even the match at 2-2. Mahar sent a ball over the top of the back line to Ortiz, who fired from the top of the 18-yard box and buried her third goal of the season inside the far post.

The Mountaineers produced quality scoring chances in the late stages of regulation but couldn't finish. Nesshoever nailed the crossbar and Madore rattled a shot off of the post in the final 10 minutes before the match was sent to overtime. 

Naya Cerda nearly notched the game winner in the 95th minute when her shot dinged off the post. In the second overtime stanza, the Mariners pushed numbers forward in the 108th minute and had their best look at a game winner when Nicole Bergeron settled a feed from Mahar but placed her shot high.

Senior goalkeeper Katie McBride finished with three saves for Mitchell. Mascari played all 110 minutes in goal for the Mountaineers and recorded three saves.

Mitchell (1-6-3 overall, 0-3-1 NECC) will next host Newbury College on Saturday, October 17 at 2:30 p.m. Southern Vermont (7-4-1 overall, 3-0-1 NECC) returns to action at home against Elms College on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.