MUTINY DEFEAT ADIRONDACK 6-0

Article by Mike Bogen of The Republican 

WEST SPRINGFIELD - After beating the Adirondack Lynx 4-0 on the road a week ago, the New England Mutiny had good reason to feel confident going into last night’s rematch.

And although the Lynx put up a nominal fight in the person of goalkeeper Meghan Sleezer, the Mutiny’s confidence was easily justified as they pretty much had their way with the Lynx in a 6-0 victory at West Springfield High School’s Clark Field.

The game marked the return to the New England lineup of Meghan Schnur, who had been out all season because of an injury. The former University of Connecticut star scored the final goal of the game, but more importantly, felt she was on track physically.

It’s completely different. Anyone who plays know that a game is just not the same (in terms of fitness) as being on the track or on the roads,” Schnur said. “My teammates were really good about helping me. And, it helps when the team is playing well.”

Besides the physical, the midfielder is also working to bring her game up to 100 percent.

“Any time you come back, you have to work the kinks out. My game wasn’t where I’d like it to be maybe a month down the road in the playoffs or something, but I was content with it tonight. The main thing is that the game went as we had hoped and hopefuily things will keep going the same way,” she said.

The Mutiny dominated their Women’s Premier Soccer League Northeast Division rival from the start, testing Sleezer with every kind of offensive pressure before Erin Clark, Erin Gatto and Jenny Maurer scored in a 15-minute stretch to give New England a 3-0 halftime lead.

Although the Mutiny (6-1) banged out 15 shots - including two blasts off the crossbar by Schnur in an eight-second span - Sleezer, who had seven first-half saves, made some fine stops to keep the score down.

Clark got the Mutiny on the board in the 17th minute with a hustling individual effort. The University of Connecticut sophomore outran a defender to a long ball down the middle of the field, got a step on her, and when Sleezer came out, punched the ball past her into the left side of the goal.

It was the second goal of the season for Clark, who scored five in 12 starts last year.

Gatto’s fourth goal of the season made it 2-0 eight minutes later. The veteran gathered in a poor clearing attempt on the left side of the goal, about 18 yards out, and beat Sleezer to the right, kicking the ball off the post and in.

Those who might have come to Clark Field to see former West Springfield High School stars Amanda Santos and Becky Wise were rewarded in the 32nd minute when the former scored her first WPSL career point, an assist on Mauer’s second goal of the season.

Santos got the ball in front of the goal, with a defender right there as well. The St. John’s University junior did a three-quarters turn, and with her back to the goal, fed the ball back to Maurer, who knocked it into the upper left of the net to make it 3-0.

The second half was more of the same, as New England just had too much skill and experience for the Lynx.

In the 50th minute, Clark took a feed from Monroe 15 yards out and picked her spot, which was the left side of the goal, for New England’s first second-half goal. Five minutes later, Gatto made it 5-0 on a mini-breakaway.