Wellesley College Athletics

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College soccer engaged in a high-scoring battle with No. 19 University of Hartford on Wednesday afternoon, with the Hawks (5-0-1) coming out on top, 5-3. First-year Maya Fraser (Leverett, Mass.) had a brace for the Blue (3-3-2) with a first career multi-goal game. Three goals was the most allowed by the Hawks in a game this season.

Wellesley took the opening kickoff and stunned the Hawks by scoring 24 seconds into the match. Senior Olivia Chow-Gillette (Dallas, Texas) drove down the right flank and sent a cross into the box in front of the keeper. First-year Areet Rao (Palo Alto, Calif.) was waiting and headed the ball into the net for a quick 1-0 lead. 

Hartford answered in the 10th minute with a similar looking play. Sophomore Anastasia Nerney (Glocester, R.I.) sent a ball to the far side of the net to first-year Taylor Freimuth (Terryville, Conn.) who converted the chance to even the score. 

The Hawks took a 2-1 advantage in the 16th minute off a quick restart on a free kick from just outside the box. Senior Reese Sadler (Newington, Conn.) chipped the ball to Nerney who entered the upper right side of the box and capitalized on the opportunity with a goal.  

The Blue found an equalizer, less than two minutes later, off the foot of Fraser. As the Hartford goalie came out to challenge, Fraser was able to get to the ball first and score past the keeper to make the score 2-2. 

The visitors regained the lead, 3:32 into the second half, on a great individual effort by Freimuth. The first-year forward evaded multiple Wellesley defenders as she dribbled near the 6-yard box and got a shot off into the far corner of the net while falling down.

Freimuth netted a hat trick in the 61st minute as she broke away from the backline and beat the oncoming Wellesley keeper for a 4-2 Hartford lead. 

Less than three minutes later, an initial shot by Nerney clanged off the right post but came right back to her for a simple putback and a 5-2 advantage for the Hawks.

Fraser gave the Blue a glimmer of hope in the 76th minute by scoring a second goal of the game. The first-year corralled a pass from Garcia and cut past a defender before placing a shot right into the bottom right corner of the net.

The high-volume game featured 45 total shots, 28 from Hartford and 17 by Wellesley. Sophomore Olivia Lore (Blue Bell, Pa.) made seven saves over the course of 90 minutes for Wellesley. First-year Madelyn Nunnemacher (Sutton, Mass.) protected eight shots on goal for the Hawks.

Wellesley travels to Cambridge, Mass. on Saturday, September 26 for a NEWMAC contest with No. 4 MIT. Hartford plays at Suffolk University this Saturday.