The Maritime College women's soccer team opened up the 2019 season by defeating York College 5-1 on Sunday afternoon. The Privateers offense was powered by two goals from sophomore Brianna Etienne (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) and Gayle Woods (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia).

"I'm very proud of the girls," said head coach Stefanie May. "Everything we've worked on the last couple weeks really paid off. We definitely still have a lot to work on, but it's a great starting point and I'm happy with everybody's contributions today."

The Privateers controlled the game right from the opening kickoff, but the Cardinals managed to keep the ball out of the back of the net early on with some solid defensive plays. However, in the 19th minute of play, Etienne found some space down the left side of the field and perfectly placed the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal to give Maritime a 1-0 advantage. Less than 10 minutes later, Etienne scored her second goal of the game. Abby Boylan (West Point, N.Y./James I. O'Neill) played a ball into the box that bounced around and found the foot of Etienne, who buried the ball into the open net.

"Preseason was pretty tiring, but we played well during that time and I think it helped us out a lot today," said Etienne.

With a two goal advantage, it was Woods' turn to take over on offense. The senior squeaked a loose ball past a York defender and goalie in the 33rd minute to give herself a wide open shot and give Maritime a 3-0 lead heading to halftime. The Privateers weren't done putting the pressure on the Cardinals yet as they added two more goals in the second half to help secure a 5-1 victory.

"We just wanted to keep firing shots on goal because we knew eventually they would get tired and we would break through," said Woods.

The Privateers out shot York College 40 to six in the contest, including 21 shots on goal compared to just four. Maritime also held 10-0 advantage in corner kicks.

"Gayle worked very hard for 90 minutes to create space and give herself chances," said May. "Brianna controlled the tempo out of the midfield and made a lot of great runs. I liked both of their combinations and I feel like they're a great duo playing together."

Maritime will continue its 2019 camaign next weekend at Maine Maritime in the Maritime Cup. Check out highlights from today's win and the post-game press conference below!