ORANGEBURG, N.Y. – Three goals in a span of under eight minutes late in the first half set the tone for a dominant performance as the New Haven women’s soccer team knocked off host Dominican, 5-1, in Friday afternoon’s season opener. Nicole Pacapelli (West Haven, Conn./West Haven/Stonehill College) tallied two goals and an assist in the victory.
In an all-Charger battle on the DC Athletic Field in Orangeburg, N.Y., the UNH Chargers held a 20-6 advantage in shots and a 15-1 edge in shots on goal over the host Dominican Chargers. New Haven also attempted five corner kicks compared to just two for the home team.
Pacapelli’s two-goal outing was the second such game of her career. The junior netted a pair in her first match in a Charger uniform during last season’s opener – also a victory over Dominican. Her first career assist rounds out the first five-point performance by a New Haven student-athlete since Jordan Lipner-Riza notched five points and Emily Buckley-Matera ’12 had seven against Post on Sept. 5, 2010.
New Haven controlled the action from the opening whistle, firing five shots over the first 30 minutes. Monica Yanez (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) started the scoring in the 33rd minute with an unassisted tally, and Alexa Seidenfeld (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) followed with a marker in the 36th minute assisted by Pacapelli. Pacapelli would get on the board herself in the 41st minute to run the score to 3-0.
Dominican broke through in the second half on a 74th-minute goal by Olivia Antonopoulos, but UNH would quickly take that marker back on Pacapelli’s second goal just over five minutes later in the 79th minute. Ali Español capped the scoring with an insurance tally in the 84th minute as New Haven cruised to a 5-1 final.
Moriah Saidel (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee) made her collegiate debut at goalkeeper for New Haven to notch the win. Veronica Iozzi patrolled the net for Dominican and made 10 saves.
Yanez, a NEWISA Division II Second Team All-New England and Third Team All-Northeast-10 Conference talent in 2011, registered the sixth goal of her Charger career, while Seidenfeld’s was her second. Pacapelli’s pair increased her career total to five finishers, and Español’s first goal of 2012 was her fourth as a New Haven student-athlete.
The Chargers are back on the road on Monday, Sept. 3 for a noon contest at NYIT. The Bears are 0-1-0 after starting their 2012 campaign with a 10-0 loss to reigning National Champion Saint Rose yesterday. Women’s soccer action comes to Kayo Field for the first time this fall on Thursday, Sept. 6 for a 4 p.m. match against Dowling. NewHavenChargers.com will be broadcasting Thursday’s contest live in high definition and on most mobile devices.
