WPI 2, Babson 1
Box
Score
Babson Park, MA --- Sophomore Kristen Garza
(Kingston, MA) and the WPI women's soccer team kept their playoff
hopes alive with a stunning 2-1 victory over host Babson College in
the final game of the New England Women's and Women's Athletic
Conference (NEWMAC) regular season on Tuesday afternoon. Garza
scored the game-winning goal and added an assist for the Engineers,
who earned the eighth and final NEWMAC Tournament berth when
Springfield defeated Smith on Tuesday night.
WPI will now take on top-seeded Springfield in the
quarterfinals on Saturday. Game time is tentatively slated
for 1pm.
Babson, which suffered its first conference loss of the season
and had its seven-game unbeaten streak snapped, fell to 10-4-5
overall and 5-1-3 in the NEWMAC. However, with Wellesley's loss to
Wheaton, the Beavers still secured the third seed in the conference
tournament and will host the sixth seed in a quarterfinal game this
Saturday, November 1, at a time to be determined.
WPI struck first in the 58th minute, beginning when Garza ran
down a lead pass over the Babson defense and fired a point-blank
shot on Babson first-year keeper Sarah Macary
(Woodbury, CT). The Beavers' rookie made a tremendous sliding save
on the shot, but senior Meg Pasquali (Laconia, NH)
corralled the rebound and ripped a shot off the crossbar and in for
the game's first goal at 57:53.
Babson tied the contest in the 76th minute, when senior
tri-captain Jackie Graham (Winchester, MA) knocked
a perfect corner kick from junior Sam Bartman
(Upton , MA) past screened WPI goalie Abaigeal
Caras (Essex, CT) to even the score at 1-1. However, the
Engineers regained the lead just two and a half minutes later, as
Garza took a long feed from first-year Suzanne
Najem (Derry, NH) down the right side and blasted a shot
off Macary's outstretched hands and inside the near post at 78:01.
The WPI defense then successfully defended three Babson corner
kicks in the final 12 minutes to clinch the 2-1 victory.
Caras finished with six saves in net for WPI, while Macary
stopped one shot for Babson. The two goals allowed snapped a
seven-game scoreless streak for Macary and the Babson defense,
which went more than 770 minutes without allowing a goal.
Release Courtesy Babson Sports Information
