the Informer

ADAM MANISON

The brilliant weather on Al-Marzook Field this past Sunday was indicative of the type of game the University of Hartford women’s soccer team would play, clinching a 3-1 blow-out victory at home over Saint Joseph’s University. Sunday’s victory lifts the Hawks to 3-6 for the season while St. Joseph’s fell to 3-5 overall.

The University of Hartford’s offense tore Saint Joseph’s defense apart and left the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in shambles from early on all the way to the end of the game.

Senior Michelle Babin netted Hartford’s first goal from the left side after sophomore forward, Caroline Dixon, fiddled her way into the box and passed to Babin, who was undefended, shot and scored.

This goal marked Hartford’s first at home game for the season, as well as the first goal of Babin’s career and her only contributions since the two assists during her sophomore season.

Babin’s 1-0 shot would be the lone goal of the first half, but as soon as play resumed, Hartford went back on the offensive.

Just 12 minutes into the second half, sophomore Shealagh Begley sent a corner kick to Amelia Pereira, left of the goal. Pereira then forwarded the pass to junior Nicole Weil who put the ball in the cage from 10 yards out, giving the Hawks a 2-0 lead.

During the 75th minute of the game, Pereira scored her own goal after junior Breeanna Robinson broke free on the left side and centered the ball. With Pereira’s goal, Hartford put the game out of reach with a score of 3-0.

Then finally in the 88th minute, Saint Joseph’s ended junior Lauren Brodeur’s shutout when the Saint Joseph’s Hawks’ freshman Mo Hawkins bounced a shot off the crossbar into the goal from 30 yards out.

This would be the only goal given up by Hartford keeper, Brodeur as she totaled four saves during the game. As for the men’s soccer team, Hartford played two games over the weekend. On Friday evening, the team dropped a 3-0 loss at nationally ranked 20/19 St. Johns, ending a two-game winning streak for the Hawks. Redshirt freshman Rafael Diaz had to make only two saves to pitch a shutout for the Red Storm, who outshot Hartford 20-6.

“St. John’s are worthy of their No. 20/19 ranking,” said Head Coach Dan Gaspar. “Playing the Red Storm was a tremendous opportunity and experience for our players,” Gaspar said in an interview on hartfordhawks.com.

The men’s team ended their weekend with a bittersweet double overtime loss to Rutgers on the road, 2-1. The Hawks led the game 1-0 early in the first half with a goal from freshman recruit Sean McKinney but after an early second half goal from Sam Archer, The Scarlet Knights only needed 14 minutes in overtime for Dragan Naumoski to score the game winner.

Despite this loss, Coach Dan Gaspar said the game was, “positive progress” and that the weekend challenges against Big East opponents were, “competitive, but exciting, and we improved every minute.” After the weekend the team fell to 2-4 on the season.

The men’s soccer team look to win on the road against Hartwick on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 7:00 p.m., while the Lady Hawks will fight to keep the streak alive against Fairfield on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m. in Fairfield, CT.

Update: The original version of this article incorrectly referred to Saint Joseph’s University as the “Blue Jays.” They are, in fact, the familiarly-named “Hawks.”