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MIT Women's Soccer Shuts Out WPI 3-0
The MIT Women's Soccer Team (9-5, 4-2) blanked NEWMAC conference foe Worcester Polytechnic Institute (5-8-1, 1-4-1) with a 3-0 victory on Saturday.
With the victory MIT moves into a three-way tie for third place in the conference with Springfield College and Wellesley College.
Senior captain goalkeeper Kat Vater recorded her fourth shutout and seventh win of the year against WPI. She made six saves on the day, including a late point-blank effort to preserve the shutout. Kat came alive in the second half against WPI charging off her line confidently to corral several challenges and leading the team as it warded off WPI's efforts to get on the scoreboard. Kat is ranked second all-time at MIT with 16 career shutouts.
Playing at WPI's campus in Worcester, Mass., the team was faced with a tough day on WPI's hard turf field, dealing with many skidding balls and high, awkward bounces.
The defensive backline of senior captain Mary Harding, senior Chi-Fong Wang, junior Karen Davie and sophomore Jodie Wu handled the tough playing conditions well, limiting WPI's scoring chances and shoring up the fifth shutout win of the season.
The midfield in particular played very well controlling the game and keeping possession, as well as hustling back on defense to thwart the counter attack.
Senior midfielder Andrea Staid was the catalyst that sparked an early lead for MIT when she floated a long ball over the back of the WPI defense that freshman striker Liz Theurer was able to run onto and knock past the WPI netminder in the second minute. The assist was Dre's fourth of the year. Added to her one goal, the senior now has five points for the season.
Freshman center midfielder Katie Pesce sparked another MIT goal late in the game when she found junior striker Amy Ludlum with a tight pass that Amy turned past the WPI defense, cut toward goal and lifted over the goalie. The assist was Katie's second of the season. She now has four points on the year.
Senior Ashleigh Leonard was sharp once again in the midfield, particularly at winning balls in the air. Junior Janine Hopmans and sophomore Andrea Bradshaw rotated most of the game on the left flank, showing excellent hustle and wide play on a very fast turf field, which made balls difficult to run down.
Freshman Julia Roberts came of the bench in both the first and second half of the game, contributing up top as a striker and in the center of the midfield, when the team moved to a 3-5-2 alignment for a portion of the game. Julia had a great scoring chance late in the game when she redirected a feed from Amy toward the net only to have it ricochet back out of the box off a WPI defender.
Amy added two more goals on the day, including a penalty kick in the 22nd minute, to push her season total to 15 goals, tops in the NEWMAC conference. Her 36 points continues to lead the conference by a wide margin.
***Player of the Match***
Freshman forward Liz Theurer was named Player of the Match by her teammates after an excellent day against WPI. Liz got the team on the board early in the game with her eight goal of the season. She also created the second goal when she was fouled in the box after a tremendous individual effort, earning a PK
for the team. On the play, Liz got the ball wide, dribbled by a WPI defender toward the end line, cut back toward goal and was tripped up hard and knocked to the turf. Amy converted the PK to give MIT a two-goal lead. With eight goals and three assists on the year, Liz has 19 points, which puts her in the top-ten in the NEWMAC conference both in total points and goals scored. Liz also joins Amy and Julia as repeat Player of the Match selections.
Next up, MIT faces Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. With both teams tied for third place in the conference, and with only three games remaining on the season, the match has major implications for the postseason.
--MJD
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