Hannah Zannini scored Westfield State’s lone goal in a 1-0 win over Castleton. (Photo courtesy of the Owls)
WESTFIELD – Senior forward Hannah Zannini (Amesbury, Mass.) scored the lone goal of the match less than two minutes into the game as Westfield State posted a 1-0 win over Castleton State in the Owls home opening women’s soccer match at Alumni Field on Wednesday night.
Westfield State freshman Bella Eduardo (Chicopee HS/Springfield, Mass.) slotted a long through-ball from 40 yards out to Zannini flying down the field who fired to the left side of the net for the marker just 1:15 into the match.
The Owls made that goal stand up for the next 88 minutes to preserve the win. Westfield State improves to 2-1 on the season, while the Spartans fall to 0-2-1.
Castleton finished with a slight 4-3 edge in shots on goal, while Westfield generated more overall offensive pressure with a 14-5 edge in total shots.
The Spartans best scoring chance came on an attacking play from Kiley Baran (Granby, Mass.) with about 20 minutes left in the match, as her blast from the top of the 18 towards an open half of the net deflected off of a Westfield defender to generate a corner kick for Castleton.
Eduardo figured prominently in the other Owls chances, as she again slotted a ball for Zannini with 22 minutes left in the first that Zannini ran on to and touched past the goalkeeper, but just too far ahead of herself to run down and rolled just inches wide of the empty net.
In the closing minutes, Eduardo had two shots from the top that sailed just over the cross bar.
Jessica Binkowski (Wamogo/Goshen, Conn.) had a pair of save for the Spartans, as did Natalia Falcone (Sutton, Mass.) for Westfield.
Westfield will be back in action on the road at Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Castleton will next play at Wheaton on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. – Courtesy of Westfield State University Sports
