Royals Suffer 1-0 Defeat to Western Connecticut State on Wednesday
The University of Scranton women's soccer team suffered its second defeat of the season, falling to Western Connecticut State, 1-0, at rain-slicked Fitzpatrick Field on Wednesday evening.
The Royals (7-2-3) entered the contest with an unbeaten streak of seven games, during which they were 4-0-3. But the Colonials (8-4) stymied the Scranton offense and came away with a victory thanks to a goal at the 78:07 mark from freshman midfielder Ashley Hutkowski (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central). Sophomore midfielder Auriana D'Aurio (Cheshire, Conn./Holy Cross) beat Royals goalie Kelsy McAnelly (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) to a ball just inside the box and fed Hutkowski, who only had to tap the ball in to give Western Connecticut State the lead.
The goal snapped a scoreless streak of 287 minutes for the Scranton defense and was just the second allowed by the Royals in their previous 598 minutes.
Scranton had a handful of offensive chances, but Colonials goalie Caitlin Avery (East Hampton, Conn./East Hampton) made five saves in the win. Sophomore forward Samantha Russo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) and sophomore midfielder Katie Hennigan (West Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) each had a team-high three shots.
With the loss, Scranton now trails the all-time series with Western Connecticut, 2-8-1. The win was the Colonials' first in the series since 2008. Scranton had posted a 3-2 win in 2009 and the teams played to a scoreless draw last season.
The Royals return to action on Saturday, October 15, when they travel to Madison, N.J. for a Landmark Conference match with Drew University at 3:30 p.m.
--ROYALS--
