METRO'S DUSC, NYAC JUMP OUT TO STRONG OPENING-WEEK STARTS

Written By:  Charlie Corr
             ​East Region Contributor

Downtown United Soccer Club earned four points out of its first two matches and the New York Athletic Club impressed with a nine-goal performance to highlight strong opening-week starts in WPSL Metropolitan Conference action.

DUSC takes early conference lead: DUSC holds the Metro Conference lead with a 1-0-1 record (4 points), notching a 5-2 win against SUSA FC on Saturday and then posting a 1-1 road draw against expansion Brooklyn City FC on Sunday.

On Saturday, Bella Sember was the driving force for DUSC with two first-half tallies, and Natalie Turner-Wyatt added a goal in between to help her side build a 3-0 lead heading into halftime. Alexa Jindel slotted home an early second-half tally from the right of the box for a four-goal cushion.

SUSA made a match of it with back-to-back goals from Gia Inzerillo and Maria Poulos, but DUSC’s Ashley Ladner halted the host team’s momentum, putting the finishing touch with a highlight-reel, top-shelf strike from outside the box for her side’s fifth and final goal.

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On Sunday, DUSC’s Jilly Shimkin scored a first-half goal to take a 1-0 lead into halftime against Brooklyn City. Though the host side was up to the task in its first WPSL match, creating plenty of scoring chances throughout and finally cashing in with a Claire Dawson goal in the second half. The result between last year’s Metro-South champion (DUSC) and one of this year’s expansion clubs (BCFC) certainly signifies some heavy competitive balance will be on display throughout the 2022 WPSL season in the Metro.

Though SUSA came up short against DUSC, the hosts did earn a weekend split by garnering a 2-0 victory against STA on Friday. Jessica Garziano notched a first-half goal, Athina Sofroniou scored early in the second half and the defense held strong the rest of the way for the clean-sheet win.

Menta, Solomon hat tricks propel NYAC: The 16th WPSL season for stronghold NYAC could not have started better, with a 9-1 victory against expansion New York Dutch Lions FC on Friday. Jenna Menta and Abigail Solomon each recorded a hat trick as NYAC’s 11-player road roster dominated in every phase of the match. Menta, coming off her senior campaign with Wake Forest (selected by Racing Louisville in the 2022 NWSL Draft), and Solomon, a Yale commit, both scored twice in the opening 45 minutes Friday. Jana Mucci, Morgan Whitlock and Miranda Farman made the scoring sheet with a goal apiece in the second half.

For the Dutch Lions, the newcomers had a couple of bright moments. Kaya Pottinger made some history with the club’s first WPSL goal, a 36th-minute penalty kick she slotted into the left side of the net to cut NYAC’s lead to 3-1. The Dutch Lions also controlled the first 10 minutes of the second half, moving defender Hayley Matthews up to striker and generating multiple chances that went wide of the net.

Week 1 Metro Conference Results:

Friday, June 3

• New York Athletic Club 9, New York Dutch Lions FC 1
• SUSA FC 2, STA 0

Saturday, June 4

• Downtown United SC 5, SUSA FC 2

Sunday, June 5

• Downtown United SC 1, Brooklyn City FC 1

Rescheduled Matches:

• STA’s home match against New Jersey Alliance FC on June 1 was postponed because of inclement weather. The match has been moved to Thursday, June 16 (7:30 p.m. ET).
• The original June 4 matchup between host New Jersey Alliance FC and the New York Athletic Club has been moved to Wednesday, June 29 (8 p.m. ET kickoff).
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