Box Score DANBURY, CT – Despite junior forward Autumn Sorice's (Bethel, CT) team-leading eighth goal of the season, the Western Connecticut women's soccer team fell to visiting non-conference opponent Wentworth Institute of Technology, 2-1, on Monday night at The Westside Athletic Complex. With the loss, the Colonials dropped to 5-4-1, while the Leopards improved to 6-2-2.
The visitors had the first quality scoring chance when junior Ali Leach (Stowe, VT) blasted a shot from the left wing that just missed the top-right corner less than five minutes into the game. Western broke the ice in the 12th minute when Sorice weaved past a defender, breaking in alone to rip a rocket past Leopard sophomore goalkeeper Christie Fleming (Braintree, MA) to take a 1-0 lead. Wentworth struck back shortly before halftime when rookie Julie McKenna (West Hartford, CT) gathered a rebound off a corner kick and chipped the ball into the back of the net for her first career goal, deadlocking the count at 1-1 at the break.
Wentworth captured a 2-1 advantage in the 59th minute when Leach booted a left-footed blast into the top-left corner from just inside the box. Western picked up the pace and seemed to have netted the game-tying goal with 19 minutes remaining. However, the goal was disallowed due to the lone offsides of the contest.
Junior netminder Jillian Fernandez (Columbia, CT) notched two saves and dropped to 5-4-1 for the Colonials, while Fleming finished with eight saves in her first start of the season en route to the victory.
Western returns to action for yet another non-league tilt against visiting Worcester State on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
