MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior Nicole Rust (Hooksett, N.H.) and sophomore Kaila Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.) each netted their first goals of the season to lead the Saint Anselm women's soccer team to a 2-0 Northeast-10 Conference victory over Saint Michael's College under the lights of Grappone Stadium Wednesday night.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Rust's goal in the 35th minute was her first of the season, and
• Sullivan scored her first goal of the season as well and second of her career.
• Sophomore Jessica Kaufman (Portsmouth, R.I.) and senior Taylor Levy (Norton, Mass.) picked up assists on Rust and Sullivan's respective goals, also marking their first points of the season.
• Junior Cassie Quattropani (East Hartford, Conn.) earned the winning decision in goal while collecting a pair of first-half saves.
• Freshman Elise Bouchard (Huntingtown, Md.) picked up a team-high and career-high three saves playing the final 45 minutes of Wednesday's matchup.
• Saint Michael's goalkeeper Megan LeCours tallied a game-high six saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• After some early gritty play by the visiting Purple Knights, Saint Anselm finally broke through on a beautiful header by Rust. Kaufman played the ball from the right flank and crossed into the heart of the box, finding the head of Rust who sent it into the upper right quadrant of the netting.
• Saint Anselm made it 2-0 just two and a half minutes later, as Sullivan received Levy's throughball to the left side and bent a low skimmer past the Saint Michael's goalkeeper for a second quick strike.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Saint Anslem outshot the Purple Knights 13-6 on the evening, including an 8-5 advantage in on-goal attempts.
• The Hawks accumulated five corner kicks, holding Saint Michael's without a set piece all evening.
NOTES
• The Hawks up their season-best win-streak to three games and move to 4-1 at home.
• Saint Anselm improves to 20-8-5 all-time against the Purple Knights—Saint Michael's last win came back in 2010.
• Saint Anselm improves to 4-2 in NE-10 Conference play to start the season for the first time since 2009.
• Following Adelphi's tie with Merrimack Wednesday night, Saint Anselm moves into a second-place tie with crosstown rival and No. 23-ranked Southern New Hampshire in the league standings through the month of September.
UP NEXT
• After a home-heavy September slate, Saint Anselm will hit the road for four straight games away from the Hilltop, starting with a Saturday showdown at Pace University at noon. The Hawks' next home game will be back at Grappone Stadium at 7 p.m. against American International on Saturday, October 17.
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