Worcester, MA --- Freshman forward Megan Forti
(Lynn, MA) notched a natural hat trick to lift WPI to an important
4-0 victory over visiting Mount Holyoke in NEWMAC women's soccer
action on Tuesday evening.
With the victory, WPI wins its second straight to improve to
5-9-1 overall and 3-4 in the NEWMAC. More importantly they
gained a game over Clark, who lost 1-0 to Springfield, in the race
for the sixth and final spot in the NEWMAC Tournament. The
Engineers lead the Cougars by three points and hold the tiebreaker
with just two conference games remaining.
Mount Holyoke is now 1-11-1 on the season and 1-5-1 in NEWMAC
play.
Forti netted all three of her goals in a span of less than seven
minutes late in the first half. In the 27th minute she took a
pass from classmate Natalie
McMillan (Acton, MA) to the left of the goal and
calmly flicked it over the goalie's head towards the far
post.
Forti's next two tallies came 43 seconds apart. In the
34th minute she stole the ball in the left corner, drove in and
beat the keeper to the left. She quickly followed that by
burying a cross from Kristen
Garza (Kingston, MA) to the far post at
35:32.
The freshman now has 10 goals this fall, including four
game-winning markers. The hat trick was the first by a
WPI player since Garza turned the trick on September 25th, 2008 in
a 12-1 home win over Newbury.
Garza closed out the scoring at 86:36 when she was sent through
on a breakaway following a nifty feed by Suzanne
Najem (Derry, NH)
WPI goalkeeper Maddie
Willer (Penfield, NY) recorded five stops en route to
posting her second shutout of the season. Mount Holyoke
goalie Elaine Harvey (Boston, MA) registered six
saves for the Lyons on the night.
WPI held a slight 15-11 advantage in shots while Mount Holyoke
took three of the match's five corner kicks. The Lyons had
the better of the action in the second half, enjoying a 8-5 edge in
shots. Mallory Phaneuf (Manchester, NH) and
Margret Hanmer (Longmeadow, MA) paced the MHC
offensive attack with three and two shots respectively.
Both teams continue NEWMAC play on Saturday with home
matches. WPI entertains Wellesley at 5pm while Mount Holyoke
hosts Clark at 1pm.
