Women’s Soccer Toppled By Morrisville State, 2-1

AURORA, N.Y. – Sophomore Heather Hiltbrand (Fayetteville, N.Y.) scored her second goal of the season near the midpoint of the second half, but the Wells College women's soccer team fell to the Mustangs of Morrisville State College by a 2-1 score Saturday afternoon at the North Athletic Field. Morrisville State (2-2, 1-0 NEAC) picks up their first North Eastern Athletic Conference victory since Oct. 16, 2011, a 3-1 win against Gallaudet. Wells (0-3, 0-1 NEAC) has lost their third-straight game on the year.

Morrisville State defeated the women's soccer team at Wells for the first time in their program history this afternoon – Wells still leads the all-time series 7-1. Former Wells College Head Coach Chris Perkins, who piloted the Express from 1992 to 2006, won his first game at the North Athletic Field since Sept. 16, 2006 in a 3-0 defeat of Trinity (D.C.).

Jordan Nadeau placed the Mustangs on the board first in the game's 56th minute, elevating the visiting team to a 1-0 lead early in the second half. Hiltbrand countered nearly 12 minutes later, forcing home a feed from junior Shannon Blanford (Fayetteville, N.Y.) to tie the score at one apiece.

The dagger came from the foot of Bailey Rutan at 79:35 of regulation time as she chipped a ball over the head of Wells goalkeeper Kylie Nishioka (Encinitas, Calif.). Several Wells defenders flailed at the ball in hopes of slowing its progress, but Rutan, a freshman, had converted her second career goal in addition to the second game-winning strike of her young career.

Despite trailing by a 10-to-3 margin in shots at the half, Wells turned up the heat in the second stanza, firing 14 shots while limiting their opposition to only six.

Nishioka (0-3) drops her third-straight game for Wells, allowing two goals on 11 shots that she faced. Angela Marriott earns her second victory of the season, improving to 2-2, after turning aside four-of-five shots on net.

Wells returns to action Sunday, Sept. 8 as the women's soccer team hosts the Giants of Keystone College in a 1:00 p.m. contest at the North Athletic Field. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Wells College athletic department by "liking" us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/WellsExpress) and subscribing to our Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/WellsExpress).