Trailblazers hold off St. Joseph (CT) in ECAC Tournament
Hartford, CT- The MCLA Trailblazers defeated St. Joseph (CT) by the score of 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Women's soccer tournament in Hartford, CT. The Trailblazers will advance to the ECAC semi-finals for the second straight season. The Trailblazers (11-2-6) will play Saturday against top seeded Keene State, who was a 3-1 winner over WNEC. Game time is 1pm in Keene, NH.
MCLA ran its unbeaten streak to 15 games, tying the program record.
With the score tied at 1-1 heading into the second half, MCLA all time scoring leader Jess Tietgens would come alive. The senior tallied twice, her 16th and 17th goals this season, after running down a pair of Jen Wehner goal kicks to give the visitors a 3-1 edge. St. Joseph would tally with about eight minutes remaining, but could not score the equalizer.
Tietgens' first goal came ten minutes into the second half. She ran down the Wehner kick to give MCLA its first lead. The duo would connect again just two minutes later on an almost identical play pushing the margin to 3-1. The hosts would battle back slicing the lead to 3-2 when Patricia Nolan connected in the 81st minute. MCLA would run out the clock to move on to Saturday's semifinals.
St. Joseph (CT) would come out of the gates strong in the opening half scoring just eleven minutes into the game for a 1-0 lead. MCLA would tie the score when Lindsay Borbolla would tally in the 15th minute, blasting a shot that the keeper would fumble across the goal line.
Both teams managed 17 shots in the contest, while MCLA held a slim 3-2 edge in corners.
Wehner would finish with 11 saves to earn the win, while her counterpart Holly Mirabella would collect 9 saves.
While MCLA advances to Saturday's semifinals, the site and time are yet to be determined.