BOSTON, Mass. – Lesley University women's soccer head coach Paul Vasconcelos earned his 150th career win as the Lynx downed host Newbury College, 5-1, Saturday afternoon. The victory gives Vasconcelos, who is in his tenth season at the helm of the women's program, a career-record of 150-41-13.
Vasconcelos has led the Lynx to five New England Collegiate Conference Championships in his tenure, including four in the past four seasons, and has reached double-digit win totals in all ten of his seasons. He entered the season as the 13th winningest active coach across the NCAA Division III with a .772 winning percentage.
Senior forward Julie Essick (Boerne, Texas) kicked off a four-point afternoon finding the back of the net 10 minutes into the contest to give the Lynx the quick 1-0 lead. Later in the half, she added an assist, connecting with fellow senior, midfielder Tori Ramirez (Redwood City, Calif.) to find junior midfielder Karlie Rubin (San Diego, Calif.) in the 34th minute to increase their lead to two goals.
However, the Nighthawks cut the lead in half just before the intermission. Senior defender Elizabeth Kia (Kea'au, Hawaii) found junior forward Shannon Walsh (Massapequa, N.Y.) to break up the shut-out.
When the teams returned to the pitch at the start of the second period, Rubin ignited the Lynx offense, scoring two of her three goals in the half. In the 53rd minute she drilled a shot passed Newbury sophomore goalkeeper Noelle Sass (Randolph, Mass.) to extend the lead to 3-1. Less than 10 minutes later, Rubin found the back of the net once again on pass from Essick to put the Lynx up 4-1.
First year midfielder Katelyn Scott (Glendora, Calif.) capped off Lesley's scoring drive with her third career goal in the 72nd minute. Junior goalkeeper Lilly Donovan (Newburyport, Mass.) earns her seventh victory on the season improving to 7-4-2 while Sass drops to 6-6-0.
Winning six of seven games in the month of October, Lesley improves to 12-4-2 and 7-1 in conference while Newbury falls to 6-10 and 3-5 in NECC action. The Lynx return to the pitch on Wednesday October 26th when they travel to Leicester, Mass. for a 4:00 p.m. tilt against Becker College.