Alyssa Mocion gave the Cougars an early lead, and Sam Helmstetter made sure they kept it, as the #14 Misericordia University women's soccer team defeated Elizabethtown 3-0 Wednesday night at Mangelsdorf Field.
 
Mocion had a goal and an assist on the night, and Helmstetter scored a pair of goals to help the Cougars improve to 7-1-1.
 
“Overall I thought we played well tonight,” said MU coach Mark Stauffer. “This whole week, we've talked about playing 90 minutes. Though we still have some things to work on, I think we really did that tonight.”
 
Mocion put the Cougars up 1-0 in the sixth minute, scoring her third goal of the season.
 
It looked as if the score would remain 1-0 at halftime, but with seven seconds remaining on the clock, Nicolette Hensel drove a long ball that Helmstetter was able to redirect past Jess Manchak to give MU a 2-0 lead.
 
The goal was also the 31^st of Helmstetter's career, moving her into sole possession of sixth place in Cougar history.
 
Helmstetter got her second goal of the game on a great feed from Mocion in the 81^st minute.
 
“Mocion made a great read on our third goal,” said Stauffer. “She pulled the defenders and slid it to Sam in the gap- something that she's getting very good at doing.”
 
The Blue Jays best opportunity came with just over eight minutes remaining. Rebekah Richards ripped a shot across the goal, but Cougar keeper Maureen Ciccosanti made a diving save to preserve the shutout- her fifth of the season.
 
Strong bench play was also an important factor in the MU victory.
 
“I thought we got really great minutes from our bench tonight,” said Stauffer. “As we get into our conference schedule, that's going to be vital to our success. Tonight we got great play from every player who stepped on the field.”
 
 
The Cougars return to action on Saturday when they host FDU-Florham at 5:00 PM as part of MU's Homecoming Weekend. The game will also be the team's Freedom Conference opener.