Ashley Caruso scores 100th career goal in 18-17 win over UMass Dartmouth
DANBURY, CT (Apr. 25) — Senior Ashley Caruso (Northport, NY) scored the 100th goal of her career for Western Connecticut State University, and a total of seven for the game, to lead the Colonials to a dramatic 18-17 victory over Little East Conference rival UMass Dartmouth Saturday afternoon at the Westside Athletic Complex.
With seven goals and two assists, Ashley Caruso totaled nine points on the afternoon for WestConn. Senior Whitney Fairchild (New Milford, CT) and junior Kara Kruczkiewicz (Brookfield, CT) each scored four goals, while freshman Jessica Bouwman (New Milford, CT) scored twice and freshman Brianna Mitterando (Mastic Beach, NY) added one goal for the Colonials.
For UMass Dartmouth, Allison Trearchis (Tyngsboro, MA) and Gillian Carey (Waltham, MA) each scored three goals, while Allison O’Rourke (Weymouth, MA), Rachel Carlucci (Franklin, MA), Andrea Russo (Tyngsboro, MA), Kara Basque (Plainville, MA), and Liz Stapleton (Wakefield, MA) each scored twice in a losing effort for the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth took an early 2-1 lead, but WestConn stormed back and led 6-2 midway through the first half. Goals by Carlucci and Trearchis brought UMass Dartmouth within two, 6-4, but three straight WestConn goals gave the Colonials a five-goal advantage, 9-4, with just under 10 minutes to play in the half. After the teams traded goals, the Corsairs scored the final two goals of the half to cut the WestConn lead to 10-7 going into intermission.
Brianna Mitterando got things going quickly for the Colonials with a goal less than one minute into the second half, but the next 12 minutes belonged to UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs scored four straight goals to tie the score 11-11, before Ashley Caruso scored on a free position shot to reclaim the lead for the Colonials. Back to back UMass Dartmouth goals less than 30 seconds apart gave the Corsairs a 13-12 lead with 17 minutes to play. WestConn then went on a four-goal run of its own to again take the lead, 16-13. At the 8:31 mark, Allison O’Rourke scored for UMass Dartmouth to make the margin two, but back to back goals by Ashley Caruso and Whitney Fairchild extended the WestConn lead to 18-14 with only five minutes to play. UMass Dartmouth refused to quit, and when the Corsairs scored goals at the 3:18 and 1:45 mark, the WestConn lead was only two. Even after receiving three yellow-cards in the final minute and a half of play, UMass Dartmouth still managed to score with 15 seconds remaining in the game. The Colonials managed to control the ball for the final 15 seconds of the game to claim an 18-17 victory to close out the regular season.
Freshman Mercedes Koehler (Bethel, CT) made 13 saves in goal for the Colonials (10 in the first half) and earns the win, while Liz Miller (Littleton, MA) made 11 saves and suffers the loss for UMass Dartmouth.
With the win, WestConn’s season record now stands at 9-8, 2-4 in the Little East Conference, while UMass Dartmouth falls to 5-10 on the season, and also 2-4 in the LEC. Both teams begin Little East Conference tournament action on Tuesday, April 28, with WestConn traveling to play Plynmouth State, while UMass Dartmouth will host Southern Maine - game times to be announced.
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