Bottis Goal Not Enough as Women's Soccer Falls 4-1 to USJ

PAXTON, Mass.—The Anna Maria College women's soccer team scored first but couldn't prevail, falling 4-1 to the Blue Jays of the University of Saint Joseph on Wednesday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.

With the win, the Blue Jays improve to 6-9-1 overall and 4-5-1 in GNAC play, while Anna Maria falls to 2-13 overall and 1-9 in league action.

SCORING

Junior Ashley Bottis (Rutland, Mass.) took the ball off a defender 35-yards out and fired a high floating shot over the outstretched arms of the Blue Jays' keeper to score her fifth goal of the season on the 23^rd minute.

Riley Luba (Bristol, Conn.) would give the Blue Jays the equalizer and the game-winner, as she netted back-to-back goals in the 30^th and 37^th minutes.

USJ would round out their first-half scoring in the first half on a goal by Amanda Ghent (Portland, Conn.).

Ghent also scored the lone goal of the second half, as Sarah Palko (Southington, Conn.) fed her the ball off of a corner kick for her second assist of the day.

The Monks held a 31-12 advantage in shots and held and 18-7 advantage in shots-on-goal over the 90-minute contest.

GOALKEEPERS

AMCAT keeper Kate Kneeland (Windham, Maine) recorded 14 saves in net. Megan Ricci (Center Moriches, N.Y.) earned the win for the Blue Jays with a three-save performance in just under 60 minutes of action. She was relieved by Hannah Meister (Hampton, Conn.) who tallied three saves in the final 30 minutes of action.

WHAT'S NEXT

Anna Maria returns to AMCAT Field on Friday for their final game of the season, a 6:00 p.m. contest against Johnson & Wales. The team will host a senior day ceremony prior to kick off.