September 14, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHC women’s soccer pommels Polytechnic
by TOM UTESCHER

Anyone who observed last Saturday’s home opener for the Chestnut Hill College women’s soccer team could’ve made a good argument for the sport to adopt a version of the “mercy rule” which brings lopsided softball games to an early conclusion.

For all intents and purposes, the contest was over long before the clock ran out and the Griffins officially claimed a 5-0 victory over the Fighting Blue Jays of Polytechnic University. Five different scorers found the net for the home team during the first half, and CHC simply passed the ball around for most of the second period and saw its record rise to 2-0-1 overall, and 1-0 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference.

The match was also the conference opener for the visitors from Polytechnic (formerly Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute) who slipped to 0-2 on the season. By the later stages of the game the New Yorkers were not only discouraged, but also exhausted, playing with only one substitute on this warm late-summer afternoon.

Fortunately for CHC, coach Michele Mocarsky finds herself in a much different position.

“We have a lot of players coming off the bench this year who really add to our team,” she said. “Our defense is very strong – both the starters and the subs. We played well today, and I had a chance to get all the new freshmen into the game and see what they can do.”

Senior Erin Bagdasarian got off a pair of shots at the outset, and the first player to penetrate Poly’s cage was fellow upperclassman Ashley Throckmorton, who drilled an outside shot from the left just over four minutes into the game. The Griffins kept up the pressure, and at the 15- minute mark a hand-ball on the goal line was called against the Blue Jays. On the resulting penalty kick, Chestnut Hill senior Morgan Nichols put the ball just under the crossbar for the only insurance goal the hosts would really need.

Just two minutes after that, the count rose to 3-0, as Nichols earned an assist on classmate Meghan Smith’s goal from the middle of the box. At the midpoint of the period it was already a 4-0 game, reflecting a corner kick from the right that was chipped into the net by sophomore Tiffanie Stanton from in front of the Blue Jays’ cage.

The Griffs garnered their final goal just before halftime, as freshman Jessica Porzel cashed in with 26 seconds on the clock.

Senior Krista Deflaviis, CHC’s veteran goalkeeper, took a seat for the second half, giving up her spot to sophomore midfielder Stephanie Carlyle, who had not played in the nets since she was a back-up keeper in high school. Neither goalie needed to make a save for the home side, since the Griffins outshot Polytechnic 51-0 during the game. The corner kick opportunities were also seriously lopsided, at 20-0.

Chestnut Hill mixed things up in the second half of the contest, with a number of players shifting to new positions on the field. As the Blue Jays grew more and more tired, there were long stretches when the Griffins simply passed the ball around amongst themselves in the offensive half without Poly getting a touch. Everyone was relieved when the final horn eventually sounded.

“We were able to try out some things we might not have done in a really tight game,” Mocarsky noted. “I liked that our communication on the field was really good for this early in the year; it’s taken us longer in the past.”