PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Freshman
Bianca Maciel scored twice and added an assist as the Saint Anselm College women's soccer team stormed back from a three-goal deficit to earn a 5-3 Northeast 10 Conference victory over Pace University on Saturday afternoon at Northwell Stadium. Trailing 3-0 early in the first half, the Hawks scored five unanswered goals to complete the comeback and improve to 5-4-1 overall and 2-2-0 in conference play.
Highlights
- Maciel scored twice and added an assist, the first points of her collegiate career, recording a team-high five in the comeback victory.
- Sophomore Madison Botta and freshman Samantha Roux each scored a goal, while junior Meghan Deneen converted on one of her two penalty kick attempts. Botta netted her third goal of the season, Deneen scored her fourth of 2026, and Roux notched her first career goal.
- Junior Amarys Jimenez dished out two assists, bringing the Hawks' total to four helpers on the afternoon. Jimenez leads the Hawks with six assists on the season.
- Saint Anselm outshot Pace 31-13, including a 19-4 advantage in the second half, and held a 16-1 edge in corner kicks.
- Junior goalkeeper Samantha Swidorski matched her season-high of seven saves to earn the victory, improving to 5-2-0 on the year.
- Saint Anselm improves to 14-9-1 all-time against Pace as the Hawks have a 3-0-1 record over the Setters in their last four matchups.
How it Happened
Pace struck first, scoring three goals in the opening 14 minutes to put the Hawks in an early 3-0 hole. Alyssa Blanchette opened the scoring in the eighth minute before an own goal doubled the Setters' advantage just 23 seconds later. Meredith Klosek added Pace's third goal in the 14th minute.
Saint Anselm began its comeback in the 18th minute when Deneen converted a penalty kick to cut the deficit to 3-1. The Hawks continued to generate opportunities, finishing the first half with 12 shots, but entered the break trailing by two.
The Hawks wasted little time after halftime, finding the back of the net just 31 seconds into the second half. Botta scored her third goal of the season off of a pair of passes from senior
Caitlin Cormican and Maciel to bring Saint Anselm within one at 3-2.
Maciel then took over, scoring her first goal of the afternoon in the 47th minute off an assist from Jimenez to even the score at 3-3. Just over four minutes later, Maciel struck again, giving the Hawks their first lead of the game at 4-3 with an unassisted tally in the 51st minute.
Saint Anselm continued to apply pressure, and Roux provided some breathing room in the 67th minute. Jimenez recorded her second assist of the afternoon on Roux's first goal of the season, extending the Hawks' advantage to 5-3.
The Saint Anselm defense held firm over the final 23 minutes, limiting Pace to four second-half shots while Swidorski made three saves after halftime to preserve the two-goal victory. The Hawks finished with a season-high 31 shots and 16 corner kicks as they completed the comeback with five unanswered goals.
Up Next
Saint Anselm women's soccer (5-4-1, 2-2-0, NE10) travels to Worcester, Mass. for another NE10 matchup against Assumption University (2-4-3, 0-2-2 NE10) on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 4 p.m.
at Normand R. Marois '57 Field.
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