Bay Path Falls 3-1 to Elms, Splitting with the Blazers on the Season

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior defender Rachel Schrutt (Chicopee, Mass.) scored on a penalty corner service from sophomore midfielder Brianna Lyons (Canton, Mass.) to help pace the Blazers to a 3-1 victory over Bay Path College in Tuesday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) field hockey game at Leary Field.
 
With the win, Elms snaps a 10-game losing streak and improves to 2-12 on the season, 1-4 in NECC action, while Bay Path moves to 2-10 overall, 0-4 NECC.
 
Elms fired out of the gate with three early penalty corner opportunities before Lyons and Schrutt connected on a fourth which resulted in the game's first goal at the 7:53 mark.
 
In the 23rd minute, Blazers' sophomore midfielder Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) broke through the Bay Path defense and drilled a shot into the far left corner of the net to give Elms a 2-0 edge.
 
The Blazers held its two-goal advantage through intermission, topping the Wildcats in shots, 13-2 during the first 35 minutes of play.
 
Ten minutes into the second frame, Elms added to its lead when freshman midfielder Elizabeth Patient (Leicester, Mass.) tapped the ball to freshman forward Ashleigh Lamoureux (Stafford Springs, Conn.) who then knocked the ball into the cage to give the Blazers a 3-0 cushion.
 
The Wildcats got on the board when Stephanie Belsen (Windsor Locks, Conn.) corralled a loose ball on a saved shot attempt and fired the ball into the net at the 47:37 mark to cut Bay Path's deficit to two at 3-1.
 
Despite owning a 10-5 shot advantage in the second half, the Wildcats could not get any closer as freshman goalkeeper Alysha Parsons (Newington, Conn.) who replaced junior starter Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.) at halftime, finished with three saves to help Elms earn its first league victory of the 2011 season.
 
Bonavita was tested just once in the first period and turned away Bay Path's lone shot on target in the opening stanza.
 
Elms concludes its regular season with an NECC contest at Anna Maria College on Saturday, Oct. 29. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. in Paxton, Mass. Bay Path will travel to face Becker on Saturday and host Wheelock in a make-up game on Sunday, October 29th for a 1:00 p.m. start.