Caron's Hat Trick lifts Women's Soccer to victory

(Newton, Mass.) The Rivier University Women's Soccer team got a three goal performance from junior captain Megan Caron (Tyngsboro, Mass.) as they earned a decisive 3-1 Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory over Mount Ida College this afternoon at Mount Ida's Alumni Field. The win ups the Raiders' overall record to 3-7-1 and 1-6-0 in the conference while the Mustangs fall to 2-7-4, 0-5-2 GNAC.

For Caron, it was her first career hat trick and it was also her first three goals of the season. She gave the Raiders an early lead as she floated her first of three goals from about 25 yards out that was able to sneak over head of Mustang freshman keeper Kelsey Parkin (Standish, Me.).

The Mount Ida College women's soccer team fell short to the visiting Raiders of Rivier University by a final score of 3-1 on the confines of Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, Mount Ida drops to 2-7-4 (0-5-2 GNAC) while Rivier improves their season record to 3-7-1 (1-6 GNAC).

Junior Megan Caron (Tyngsboro, Mass.) scored a natural hat trick for the Raiders as she opened the scoring at the 6:08 mark of the first half after the Mustangs pressured the the Rivier defense in the opening minutes of the game.

Just twelve minutes later Caron found the back of the net again after teammate Alexis Hardy (Methuen, Mass.) crossed a ball in that found the back post, bounced, and found the head of Caron for her second goal of the afternoon, giving Rivier the 2-0 cushion.

Two minutes after going down 2-0, the Mustangs got right back into the thick of things when Emily Oltmanns (Golden, Colo.) served in a corner kick that grazed the cross bar and fell at the feet of sophomore midfielder Hailey Serino (Northwood, N.H.) for her first collegiate goal while cutting the visitors lead in half, 2-1.

After a back and forth battle throughout the second that nearly saw the Mustangs equalize on several different opportunities, Caron once again struck late for the Raiders, completing the hat trick in the 66th minute when she buried a shot from the left top corner of the 18-yard box over Parkin's head.

Rivier would hold off a plethora of Mount Ida late scoring chances in the final twenty minutes of regulation to win the GNAC contest by a final score of 3-1.

Sophomore Lauren Goodspeed (Merrimack, N.H.) recorded her third win of the season while Parkin took the loss for the Mustangs.

"Solid defending by all, but stellar performance by first year Megan Hamel." Coach Ray was quoted after the big win. "Also, Lauren Goodspeed played phenomenal and Alexis Hardy put in a great effort in Midfield with Nikki Godschall, Jackie Russo and Colby Creteau."  

Both teams will be back in action on Columbus Day with Rivier will travel to Norwich, Vt. with kickoff set for 4:30 PM and Mount Ida to host Saint Joseph's (Me.).