Leopards Fall to Western New England, 2-1

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior forward Heather Mortell (Webster, Mass.) scored two goals in a six-minute span to help the Western New England College women's soccer team defeat Wentworth, 2-1, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference game played at Sweeney Field.

While the first half yielded no goals for either team, both teams had chances to break the ice, including in the 22^nd minute when a shot by Golden Bear junior midfielder Andrea Almeida (Newington, Conn.) rattled an attempt off the crossbar.  The host Leopards would hold a 7-5 shot advantage after 45:00 of play.

Mortell blasted a shot to the inside of the right post at the 46:25 mark to give Western New England a 1-0 lead.  Just 5:59 later, freshman forward Nina Vital (Ludlow, Mass.) served a cross to Mortell, who would flick a header over Leopard sophomore keeper Jess Gardner (Wilbraham, Mass.).

Wentworth, which was held without a second half shot for the first 25:27 of the half, cut the lead in half when sophomore midfielder Deborah Lesky (Newton, Mass.) jumped on a loose ball and put a shot home to the left side at 78:53.  The Leopards continued to mount pressure, but the Golden Bears held on for the win.

Freshman keeper Kayla Prout (Holyoke, Mass.) made five saves for Western New England, who improve to 4-4-0 (2-1-0) on the season.  Gardner made four stops for the 2-4-1 (1-2-1) Leopards.  Both teams are in action Friday night.  The Golden Bears are at Nichols, while the Leopards are at Curry.