NORTON, MA- Ranked first in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), the Wheaton College women's soccer team held on to defeat MIT 1-0 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play Tuesday. The Lyons move to 14-0 overall and 5-0 in league play, while the Engineers fall to 4-5-3 and 1-3-1 in the NEWMAC.
Senior co-captain Erin Duffy tucked a perfectly placed penalty kick past MIT goalie Katherine Vater in just the ninth minute of play to put the Lyons on top for good, as both teams squandered scoring opportunities as the game proceeded. Perhaps MIT's best chance came later in the first half as freshman forward Amy Ludlum corralled a deflection and blasted a shot directly at Wheaton junior goalkeeper Emily Lipsky. The ball squirted under the netminder, coming within inches from crossing the end line, before senior co-captain Christy Schneider cleared it from harms way. Sophomore Andrea Staid also narrowly missed an equalizer for the Engineers with two minutes remaining in the half.
The second half opened with six consecutive corner kicks for the Lyons, but the hosts failed to capitalize, as MIT deflected shot after shot out of bounds. The opportunity for an insurance goal came again just minutes later, as Vater blocked numerous Wheaton shots in a logjam in front of the Tech goal, but the ball eventually rolled harmlessly out of bounds for a goal kick. With 37 seconds remaining in the game, the Engineers made one final push for the game-tying goal as Ludlum took a well-placed through ball into the box before lifting it above the crossbar, all but ending MIT's chances at tying the match.
The shot count was 7-7 at halftime, but Wheaton's defense controlled most of the second half, allowing MIT only three shots in the stanza, bringing the total count to 26-10 in favor of the Lyons. The Blue and White also took a 17-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Lipsky made three of the home team's four saves, combining with freshman goalkeeper Stacey Kronenberg (Belchertown, MA/Belchertown) to notch Wheaton' 12th shutout of the year, while Vater recorded nine saves for the Engineers in the loss.