Photo Credit: Brian Jenkins
FINAL SCORE: Hartford 3, Vermont 0 | Box Score

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Michele DeSanti scored once and handed out an assist, her first points of the season, to lead the Hartford Hawks to a 3-0 shutout victory over visiting Vermont in America East women's soccer action on Sunday afternoon.

The game was the season finale for both clubs. Hartford finishes the year with a record of 6-10-2 overall and 2-5-1 in league play. The Catamounts wrap up the 2009 season with a mark of 1-13-3 on the year and 1-5-2 in America East action.

Vermont played the majority of the game with 10 players after starting goalkeeper Eliza Bradley (Charlotte, Vt.) was issued a red card after a collision with a Hartford forward 2:47 into the match. Freshman Alyssa Kelly (Southampton, N.J.) replaced Bradley in net and the Catamounts had to play a man-down for the remainder of the game.

Hartford got on the board two minutes before the halftime whistle. DeSanti scored her first goal of the season at the 42:16 mark. Teammate Giovanna Velardo chipped a ball over to DeSanti who was able to collect it and blast it into the upper right corner of the net and give the Hawks the 1-0 lead.

Coming out of halftime, the Hawks struck again, two minutes into the second half. Laura Guigli eluded a Vermont defender after getting a pass from DeSanti and was able to score on a hard, low shot to the left corner to push Hartford's lead to 2-0.

Mary Beth Hamilton closed out the scoring, finishing off an assist from Breeanna Robinson in the 85th minute.

"I was proud of the character and poise we showed after an unfortunate situation at the start of the game," said Vermont head coach Kwame Lloyd. "Alyssa Kelly stepped up for us and we did have some opportunities but could not make the most of them."

Kelly finished the game with a career-high six saves in 87 minutes for UVM. Lauren Brodeur made seven saves to pick up the shutout. The Hawks out shot Vermont 19-9 in the contest.