Wellesley, MA --- Senior
Abigail Rauch (Jackson, NJ), and sophomores
Eve Martineau (Greene, ME) and
Arie Lang (West Hartford, CT) each scored a goal as the WPI field hockey team wrapped up its 2023 regular season with a hard-earned 3-1 road win at Wellesley on Saturday.
The win pushes the Engineers over the .500 mark for the first time season after starting the year 0-5. The Crimson and Gray enter the postseason with a 9-8 mark and 7-2 in conference play. The two teams will meet again Tuesday at 6pm in a NEWMAC quarterfinal however in Worcester as WPI will be the third seed in the NEWMAC Tournament and Wellesley (8-9, 4-5 NEWMAC) the sixth seed. The two teams also meet as similar seeds in last year's tournament with the Engineers claim a 2-0 victory.
Prior to the game Wellesley acknowledged five seniors for their contributions to the Blue. The seniors honored were
Alex Lenart (Princeton Junction, NJ),
Jocelyn Andrews (Malvern, PA),
Cassidy Novello (Scotch Plains, NJ),
River Schiff (Potomac, MD), and
Kyra Deehr-Lewis (Newtown, PA).
Martineau broke the scoreless tie early in the second quarter on a shot from the top of the arc setup by a penalty insert from junior
Eliza Dutson (Woodstock, CT).
The game remained 1-0 until a frantic 1:52 stretch that saw three goals scored early in the fourth period. A pass from junior
Maggie McCarthy (Worcester, MA) set up Lang to slap a shot that doubled the Engineers' lead. Only a minute later, First year
Alex Butulis (Raleigh, N.C.) scored for the Blue to on a tip in of a shot from classmate
Katie Golla (Oak Park, IL) bring the WPI lead back down to one.
After another minute, WPI found the back of the cage again, this time courtesy of Rauch, who came out of a scramble with the ball and gave the Engineers a 3-1 lead that would remain through the final horn.
WPI outshot Wellesley 22-17. The Engineers took 14 penalty corners while the Blue had 13 penalty corners of its own. WPI junior
Ella Moreau (Huntington, MA) stopped eight shots and senior
Kyra Deehr-Lewis (Newtown, PA) made seven saves for Wellesley.
Release Courtesy Wellesley Sports Information