Wildcats Claw Blazers in 3-2 Penalty Shoot-out Victory on Senior Day

Senior Katherine Chabot Led her Team with Two Goals and One Made Shot in the Penalty Round

CHICOPEE, Mass.-  The Bay Path of Wildcats concluded their 2014 campaign on a high note with the help of the lone honored senior Katherine  "Kat" Chabot (Brookfield, Mass.) upending the Elms College Blazers on their home turf despite being the host team. Chabot topped all players with two goals and a made Penalty Stroke in the PK round.

It started off a dreary cold day that ended up very wet, both teams played hard despite the harsh weather conditions in the 100 plus minutes of play. The Wildcats helped Elms get their first notch on the score board with an own goal with Elms' senior forward Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) awarded the assist.

The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Blazers heading into the half. Chabot came out of the break with a mission. She scored at 47:50 on a penalty stroke to knot the match.  She again found the back of the net at 65:03 after retrieving a deflected shot by newcomer freshman forward Nicole Schafer (Brooklyn, N.Y.).  Schafer provided a much needed spark in the second half for the Wildcats with a few great runs up the field.

With the Score 2-1 in favor of Bay Path, Elms managed to make some last ditch runs in the final minutes of play. Their efforts were rewarded with under a minute left of play when senior midfielder Imogen Leonard (Sharon, Mass.) knotted the game sending them into overtime. Elms' Narey and sophomore defender Stephanie Esposito (Orange, Conn.) notched the double assist on the Blazers' final goal.

Both teams despite numerous efforts played another 30 minutes of double overtime action unable to score the deciding goal. The coaches each picked their five shoot-out players and the order for the tie-breaker.

Chabot went first with a made shot, Narey missed for Elms. Oliveira missed, while Elms' senior Jaclyn Soderquist (Enfield, Conn.) mad her shot knotting both teams 1-1. Next up, Bay Path's sophomore Jennifer Dawson (Buckland, Mass.) missed as well as Blazers' senior Meghan Goodrow (Sunderland, Mass.).

Wildcats' junior Elizabeth Deane (Agawam, Mass.) came up big for her team making the second and eventual game turning shot for them. The Blazers final players all missed their shots.

Junior goalkeeper Anna Meyer (Millbrook, N.Y.) came up big for Bay Path stopping four of the five penalty shots in the tie-breaker. She was awarded the win facing 21 shots and adding 19 saves for the match. Elm's junior keeper Samantha Alvino (Holtsville, N.Y.) suffered the loss; she faced seven shots, four on goal and had two saves.

Chabot brings her four year stellar career with Bay Path to an end with topping Wildcat players in their young record book for 12 goals, six assist, 30 points and 47 games played.

Bay Path finished 2-13 overall and 2-3 in the New England Collegiate Conference. Elms is now 5-14 on the season and finishes 3-2 in NECC play. Elms will make the 2014 NECC Field Hockey Tournament.