ORANGEBURG, N.Y. – The Felician University women's soccer team returned to intercollegiate competition on Tuesday. The Golden Falcons faced Dominican (N.Y.) College in their first game since Nov. 6, 2019. Women's Soccer is the seventh varsity intercollegiate sport at Felician to return to play following the COVID-19-induced shutdown nearly one year ago.

"With all the restrictions in life at the moment, getting back into action was important to us," said Felician captain Nikki Bisesi (Monroe, Conn.), a senior defender. "We enjoyed being out on the pitch and the excitement of giving it our all."

In a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest played at the Orangetown Soccer Complex, host Dominican came away with a 9-0 victory. It was the Spring 2021 season opener for both schools. Eight league schools have opted into a spring version of the 2020-21 campaign after the usual fall season was postponed by the pandemic.

The Chargers featured eight different goal scorers, with only freshman midfielder Stella Koster (Saarbruecken, Germany) tallying twice. Dominican completed play with a 19-3 advantage in shots.

Felician freshman goalkeeper Alexis Lambertino (Hammonton, N.J.) was credited with five saves in her collegiate debut.

"It was a bittersweet day for sure," Bisesi said. "We have a very different team than the one that last took the field for us, and we have to improve on many things. But we were able to play a full 90-minute game together as a team after a long hiatus and amid all the COVID protocols."

Felician will play its home opener of the Spring 2021 season on Saturday, when it entertains Chestnut Hill College at 1 p.m. at the Lyndhurst (N.J.) Recreation Complex.