Women's Soccer Weathers Storm, Wins 1st Ever CCC Championship

Springfield, Mass. (November 5, 2022) - Fresh off a win on penalty kicks in the semifinals, the Golden Bears hosted the UNE Nor'easters in the CCC championship game. UNE earned their place in the championship game by beating Curry College at home by a score of 3-0. They had not let up a goal going into this championship matchup.

Records:

• No. 1 Western New England: 13-5-2 (6-2-1)
• No. 2 University of New England: 11-6-3 (4-2-3)

How it Happened:

WNE started the game with the ball and sent it deep into Nor'easter territory. UNE would start quickly with a shot by Karley Belisle that WNE GK Molly McLaughlin saved. Belisle followed that up with a shot a minute later. After some back and forth, WNE started to gain possession and make moves toward the net. Bruehwiler had a great opportunity in the 13th minute, but UNE GK Ariel Martin made the sliding save. Marie Hoehner answered with a shot that went high of the net. The 16th minute saw Summer Hathaway get a shot off toward Martin. Martin was equal to the task, though. The 21st minute saw a UNE shot go high of the net, with McLaughlin not having to worry much about it. In the 26th minute, the pressure by WNE showed. Bruehwiler made a move and went right past the defender, Bruehwiler got a shot off, but it was blocked and went right to Gabby Sansone, who put a right foot on the ball and buried the ball in the back of the net. WNE had the lead 1-0. UNE would show some fight after the goal with three shots. McLaughlin saved the first. The next two went wide of the net. The 31st minute saw a shot by UNE sail wide right of the net and out of the way of McLaughlin. UNE got another shot off in the 35th minute, but it also went wide of the net. WNE finished off the half with two shots. The first from Sansone got on goal, but Martin made the save to keep the deficit at one. The second by Lindsay Reidy went wide of the net. The first half ended soon after, with WNE leading 1-0.

The first-half stats told a similar story as the scoreboard, with how tight of a game it was. UNE had nine shots in the first half, with two being saved by McLaughlin. WNE had seven shots, with four of them being on the net and three of the shots being saved by Martin. WNE had three corner kicks compared to UNE, who had two. WNE was also a little more physical, as they were called for four fouls, and UNE was called for two. It was a very competitive first half, and the second would be similar.

UNE started with the ball in the second half and booted it down the field just as WNE had done to start the first. Like the first half, UNE started the shots with two shots. One was blocked, and the other went wide of net. In the 49th minute, Bruehwiler got the ball off a free kick from Malina LaCapra. Bruehwiler dribbled to the right side of the field and sent a cross to Montalvo. The ball bounced, and Montalvo sent a right-footed shot to the left of Martin and into the back of the net. WNE now led 2-0 with just over 40 minutes remaining in the game. UNE tried to establish pressure with shots, but nothing went on net. Montalvo had another opportunity for a goal in the 58th minute, but the ball struck the woodwork, and the score stayed at 2-0. UNE and WNE each got a shot on net after that. McLaughlin made the first save. Then Martin made a leaping save on Emily Chojnicki. The 69th minute saw Reidy send the ball toward an open net, but a defender jumped in the way for the save. Then, in the 70th minute, Reidy found the back of the net. Reidy started the play by sending a through ball to Brynn Murphy, running down the ride side of the field. Murphy took a touch and sent it across the goal to Reidy running in. Reidy tapped the ball past the goalie to improve the lead to 3-0. WNE kept the pressure on with a shot in the 74th minute that Martin saved. UNE then had two shots, but neither worried McLaughlin. The 83rd and 88th minutes saw UNE shots, but neither got to McLaughlin. Soon after, the final horn sounded, and the Western New England Golden Bears celebrated their first conference championship since joining the CCC.

The final stat line saw UNE lead with shots. They had 19 shots, with three on target and all three saved by McLaughlin. WNE got 15 shots off, with nine on target and six being saved. Martin saved five. WNE earned more corner kicks, with seven to UNE's five. WNE had 11 fouls to UNE's five. The final score showed 3-0, WNE.

Inside the Lines:

• #1 seeded WNE hosted #2 seeded UNE in a CCC championship game rematch of 2018. 
• Gabby Sansone got the scoring started in the 26th minute after the ball bounced from Allison Bruehwiler on a shot.
• The 49th minute saw Bruehwiler's cross find Isabella Montalvo, who sent the ball past Martin to put the Golden Bears up 2-0.
• The 70th minute saw the scoring come to a close, with Lindsay Reidy getting the ball back from Brynn Murphy and sending it to the back of the net. The score was 3-0. 
• Molly McLaughlin finished the game with a shutout, saving all three shots put on the net. Ariel Martin made five saves in net for UNE.
• WNE hoisted the CCC championship trophy after taking down UNE 3-0.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE moves on to the NCAA Division III national tournament. The opponent and time of kick-off are to be announced.
• UNE's season ends in the CCC championship game. They achieved an overall record of 11-6-3 and a CCC record of 4-3-3.