New Haven, Conn. – Senior forward Acacia Nelson (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored two goals to lead the Albertus Magnus College women's soccer team past Mount Ida, 5-1, on Wednesday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at Celentano Field. With their second straight conference win, the Falcons improve to 6-5-2 overall and 4-2 in league play, while the Mustangs drop to 2-6-4 on the year and 0-4-2 in GNAC tilts.
Albertus Magnus controlled the possession and tempo throughout the contest, outshooting Mount Ida, 31-6.
The Falcons opened the scoring 29 minutes into action courtesy of Nelson's first tally of the day. A through ball sent junior midfielder Danielle Polvan (East Haven, Conn.) in uncontested on Mount Ida freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Parkin. Polvan's shot was turned aside with a nice diving effort by Parkin and Nelson slammed the rebound home for her fourth goal of the season.
A little over a minute later, the Mustangs caught the Falcon backline sleeping and knotted the game at one. Off a throw in, freshman midfielder Emily Oltmanns collected the ball and fired a shot that beat AMC senior goalkeeper Maria Case (West Haven, Conn.). Mount Ida senior forward Isabelle Moddy earned her second assist of the fall on the play.
Albertus Magnus would answer with two goals in a 90-second pan to hold a 3-1 edge heading into halftime.
Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Fedumenti (Stratford, Conn.) put the hosts ahead to stay with her second marker of the autumn in the 32nd minute. She fired a shot from 30 yards outside the box that slipped through hands of Parkin and found the back of the net. In the 34th minute, Polvan beat the defender marking her outside the box and ripped a shot into the upper 90 for her fifth strike of the year. The 5-8 playmaker has now scored in three straight conference games for the Falcons.
Early in the second half, freshman forward Kerrigan Loughman (Trumbull, Conn.) gave Albertus Magnus a three-goal lead with her first career tally. Loughman beat the Mustang defender playing her and bent a shot just past a diving Parkin into the upper left-hand corner of the net in the 48th minute.
Nelson capped the scoring in the 69th minute finishing her own rebound into an empty net. Sophomore midfielder Amanda Montano (North Haven, Conn.) sent Nelson in on a breakaway with a perfectly placed through ball. Parkin left her line to take away the angle on Nelson and stopped her initial shot attempt before Nelson converted the rebound to make it 5-1.
In goal, Case made two saves to earn her fifth win of the year for the Falcons. In relief, freshman Lexie Fenn (Oakville, Conn.) did not face a shot for Albertus Magnus in 13 minutes of action. On the opposite end, Parking turned aside 11 shots in a losing effort for the Mustangs.
Albertus Magnus returns to action this Saturday, October 10 with a road GNAC clash at Emmanuel.
