FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's soccer team began conference play on Tuesday night in dominant fashion, using eight first-half scores to defeat Skyline Conference foe Old Westbury, 9-0. The win pushes the Valiants' record to 2-2-1 on the campaign.
The offensive eruption came courtesy of four scorers, all who found the back of the net in the opening 45 minutes.
Natalie Aracena (Bronx, N.Y./Riverdale Kingsbride Academy) had a career game, scoring four goals in first 15 and a half minutes of the contest.
Kelly Barrera (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester High School) and
Margaret Gocha (Plymouth, N.H./Plymouth Regional) each added a pair of scores, while
Jennifer Xiong (Connelly Springs, N.C./East Burke) picked up her third goal of the season in the victory as well.
Ashley Hayes (Springfield, Ore./Thurston) set up three of Aracena's tallies, earning a trio of assists, while Xiong,
Dori Grasso (Shelton, Conn./St. Joseph), and
Jessica Wielgus (New York City, NY/Frank McCourt High School) added helpers of their own.
It took just two minutes for the Valiants to open up the scoring, as Barrera collected a rebound off her own shot to put Manhattanville on the board. Aracena would then take center stage, scoring four straight goals to blow the game open and put Manhattanville ahead 5-0 in the 15
th minute. Xiong and Gocha went on to score ahead of Barrera's second on the night to close out the half with an 8-0 lead in the Valiants' favor. Gocha would also provide the only score in the second half with her second at the 57
th minute.
Alexa Pyatsky (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) and
Steph Shalhoub (Yorktown, N.Y./Lakeland) split goalkeeping duties, each pitching in a scoreless half in net and combining for three saves to preserve a clean sheet.
Up Next
Conference play rolls on this weekend when the Valiants head to Newburgh to take on Mount Saint Mary on Saturday at 1:00 P.M.
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