Women's Soccer Falls to Johnson & Wales, 5-2

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's soccer team was unable to hold an early 2-0 lead and lost its home opener Wednesday night.

The Bears were overtaken by Johnson & Wales University, 5-2, in a non-conference matchup at Mazzaferro Field.

BSU (0-2-0) scored twice in the opening 16:36 but was unable to register another goal against the Wildcats (1-0-1).

Johnson & Wales cut the lead in half by the game's midway point, then scored four times in the second half for the victory.

Sophomore Rowan Garr (Barkhamsted, Conn.) potted a pair of goals, both coming in the second half, to lead the way for the Wildcats.

Junior Natalie Mattos (Fairhaven, Mass.) put the Bears ahead, 1-0, 8:03 into the game. Mattos took advantage of a Wildcats' turnover and scored on a shot from about 25 yards out, which went into the right side of the net.

Senior Olivia Robarge (Pepperell, Mass.) made it 2-0 at 16:36. Robarge's goal came off a restart as she scored from 30 yards out into the left side of the cage.

Johnson & Wales made it 2-1 at 20:13 when freshman Sofia Soares (Ossining, N.Y.) scored.

Soares moved around a pair of BSU defenders and put a shot inside the left post.

The Wildcats tied it 2:18 into the second half with Garr scoring from junior Sophia Warburton (Norfolk, Va.).

Warburton sent a cross to the goal line, eluding the Bears' defense, and Garr converted for the goal.

At 69:12, sophomore Marcie Iannico (Lynbrook, N.Y.) broke the tie. Iannico one-timed a crossing pass from Warburton.

The shot deflected off the fingertips of senior goalkeeper Logan Levesque (Bristol, R.I.) and under the crossbar.

The goal came just a few minutes after Levesque made a leaping stop to keep the game tied.

Johnson & Wales added two goals in less than three minutes with time running out.

Garr scored with 4:05 left after a corner kick by junior Jessica Lee (Newton, Mass.) was stopped by Levesque, but the rebound went to Garr, who scored into the open left side.

An own goal capped off the scoring with 1:26 to go. Garr sent a cross to the top of the six that eluded the sprawling Bears' keeper and went off the leg of a BSU defender and rolled into the empty net.

Freshman Kyla Stamilio (Newington, Conn.) was the starting goalkeeper for Johnson & Wales and made one save in the opening half.

Junior Ava Vaughn (New Boston, N.H.) played the second half for the Wildcats and had two saves as she earned the win in relief.

Levesque stopped six Johnson & Wales shots as the Wildcats had an 11-5 edge in shots on goals and a 17-8 advantage in overall shots.

BSU travels to Paxton, Mass., on Saturday to open the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule against Anna Maria College.

The Bears have won two straight conference regular-season titles while the AMCATS are making their MASCAC debut this year.

Johnson & Wales, which was 18-4-1 last season, will host Wesleyan University at 11 a.m. on Saturday.