BOSTON, Mass. – Emerson College scored two goals early in the second half and held on to beat the Lesley University women's soccer team 2-0 in the annual Charles River Cup tonight at Rotch Field. The Lynx, sole proprietors of the Cup for the last three seasons, fall to 3-5 on the season with the loss. The Lions stay unbeaten on the year and will keep the Charles River Cup for the next year as they improve to 7-0-1 in 2015.
Emerson senior Tayllar Righini (Salem, N.H.) notched what was the game-winning goal just 2:59 into play in the second frame to put the hosts up 1-0. The goal came on the heels of a shot from freshman Paige Hailey (Salem, N.H.) that was turned away by Lynx senior keeper Jackie Berard (Coventry, R.I.) but Righini was there to deposit the rebound for her sixth goal of the season.
Just 5:34 later, the Lions struck again as senior Alyssa Giannone (Mountainside, N.J.) beat Berard to give the hosts an insurance marker. The goal was Giannone's third of the year.
Lesley's best opportunity to find the back of the goal came with a corner kick in the 70th minute. Junior Tori Ramirez (Redwood City, Calif.) had a shot following the Kai Morehead (Oxnard, Calif.) cross, but her attempt was corralled by Emerson keeper Melanie Escobar (Torrington, Conn.).
Berard was strong in between the pipes for the visitors as she made seven stops in the loss. Escobar improves to 6-0-1 on the year while making a pair of saves in the win for the Lions.
Emerson held a 12-4 advantage in shots on the evening while Lesley had the sole pair of corner kick attempts.
The Lynx will look to get back in the win column on Saturday when they open up New England Collegiate Conference play against Elms College at 5:00p in what will be a rematch of the 2013 and 2014 conference finals.