NEWTON, Mass. – September is Leukemia Awareness month, and Mount Ida College women's soccer team recognized members of its family who have been effected by the disease on Saturday afternoon before their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener against the University of Saint Joseph (CT) at Alumni Field.

Members of the team presented orange roses, the color of leukemia awareness, to Irene Aznavoorian, mother of sophomore Haley (Tewksbury, Mass.), who was recently diagnosed with the disease.

In the end, the Blue Jays escaped with a 1-0 victory thanks to a first half goal by Morgan Skoly (Vernon, Conn.). The sophomore midfielder poked home her second goal of the season on a cross from junior Jesssica Spezzano (Watertown, Conn.), sending the Mustangs to a 1-4 record (0-1 GNAC).

Mount Ida managed just one attempt, a shot by sophomore Haley Falzone (Maynard, Mass.) late in the second half, and didn't force a save out of Blue Jays keeper Meegan Ricci (Center Moriches, N.Y.), who earned the shutout.

On the opposite end of the field, Mustang freshman AnnaMarie Seiler (Biddeford, Maine) kept the home team in the game, making 13 saves in her collegiate debut between the pipes.

The University of Saint Joseph held a 29-1 shot advantage and a 7-0 edge in corner kicks as they improved to 2-2 on the year.

The Mustangs will dip back into non-conference game on Wednesday night with a primetime game against Becker at 7:00 pm.

USJ has a quick turnaround before a Monday home game against Newbury at 4:00 pm in West Hartford.