Chiarella's Hat Trick Powers Golden Bears Past Curry, 5-0

Western New England extends winning streak to four games

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 13, 2018) - With the help of a hat trick from freshman midfielder Vanessa Chiarella (Hampden, Mass.), the Western New England University women's soccer team earned a convincing 5-0 victory over Curry College on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Suprenant Field.

Top Performers
Chiarella energized the Golden Bear offense with three goals, two of which came in the second half. Sophomore Mariana Goncalves (Ludlow, Mass.) contributed a goal of her own and two assists.

Sophomores Bee Murphy (Monson, Mass.) and Christina Sordi (Bethlehem, Conn.) both added assists for Western New England. 

Junior goalkeeper Alex Lemekha (Stamford, Conn.) corralled eight saves en route to her first shutout of the season. 

Game Review
After nearly 40 minutes of tightly contested play, Western New England was able to take the lead when Chiarella tipped in the ball at the 39:08 mark. 

Once the second half opened up, the Golden Bears were able to add to their lead when Goncalves connected with freshman Autumn Hathaway (Colchester, Vt.) for another tap in goal.

At the 65:53 mark, Chiarella would strike again for the Golden Bears by controlling a Goncalves pass and slipping it past the Curry keeper.

At 68:08, Goncalves found the back of the net after Murphy dished the ball to Sordi, who facilitated it to Goncalves.

Just under two minutes later, Chiarella capped off her hat trick performance as she collected a deflected shot and guided it in, ballooning the lead to 5-0 for the Golden Bears.

Notes
• Western New England has won four straight games for the first time this season. The four-game winning streak matches the longest streak for the Golden Bears from last season. 
• The Golden Bears outshot the Colonels 26-15, while Curry held a 6-5 edge in corner kicks.

Up Next
The Golden Bears (8-6-1, 4-1-1 CCC) look to continue their win streak on the road against Eastern Connecticut on Wednesday at 7 pm. Curry (8-7-1, 1-3-1 CCC) will host Roger Williams at 6:30 pm on Wednesday.