SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College soccer team opened the 2025 season Sunday with a 4-0 home victory over Anna Maria College, registering the Lyons' biggest winning margin since 2023.
Mount Holyoke (1-0-0) scored two goals in the opening 13 minutes, including sophomore Ania McMichael's (Glastonbury, Conn.) breakaway strike in the fourth minute. McMichael added a second goal later in the half, and senior Taryn White (Alexandria, Va.) tacked on the Lyons' fourth goal early in the second half.
Senior captain Anna Kennedy (Glendale, Wis.) had a goal and an assist for the Lyons, while junior Sage Hudson (Washington, D.C.) and senior Annie Bethell (Baltimore, Md.) also recorded assists -- Bethell's first career point coming in her first career start.
McMichael, who has played most of her young career as a defender, started at forward and quickly notched her first two career goals, and nearly a third score as well, with one shot nearly crossing the goal line on its way off the left post. In the fourth minute, McMichael got a pass near midfield from Hudson and broke free of the Anna Maria defense, heading at the Amcats' goal and advancing goalie Kortney Clark before pushing the ball inside the near right post.
In the 13th minute, Kennedy made it 2-0 with her eighth career goal, collecting a loose ball near the 18 and shooting under the crossbar into the net.
Kennedy set up McMichael's second goal in the 30th minute with a perfectly placed touch pass into the open flat, where McMichael shot under Clark's reach and inside the far left post for a 3-0 Lyons lead.
White scored her second career goal and her first since 2023 in the 49th minute, stepping into a blast from outside the 18 on a kickout pass from Bethell.
Clark made 10 saves for Anna Maria, as Mount Holyoke outshot its guests by a 27-5 margin, including a 14-1 difference in shots on goal.
Junior Evie Krieg (Frisco, Texas) made Mount Holyoke's lone save in the second half. A 2024 Second Team All-NEWMAC goalie, Krieg substituted in at forward for the first time in her career during the first half, while senior Clarissa Govea (Pico Rivera, Calif.) kept goal. Junior Emma Zoubok (Somers, N.Y.) played the final 21 minutes in goal in the combined shutout.
The Lyons next play at Albertus Magnus on Wednesday at 7pm.
