WORCESTER -- Maeve Steckley (Rochester, NY) and Bailey Allmon (Woodbine, MD) connected a goal late in the first half and goalkeeper Lili Hellerman (Ashland, MA) collected her first shutout of the season to lift the WPI women's soccer team to a 1-0 triumph over visiting Wellesley Saturday afternoon in the NEWMAC opener for both squads.
 
The win was the first for the Engineers in a NEWMAC lid lifter since a 1-0 win over Clark in 2019.  The Engineers level their record to 3-3 on the season and 1-0 in NEWMAC player while Blue fall to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in conference action.
 
The hosts had the better of the action in the opening half, accounting for 8 of the 10 shots in the first 45 minutes and were rewarded with the game's only goal at 41:29.  Steckley rocketed a shot towards the Wellesley goal and Allmon swiped it from the Wellesley's goalie's grip and knocked it into the goal for her first marker of 2023.
 
The second half was evenly matched.  Wellesley's best attempt came in the 69th minute as Carrie Huang's (Seattle, WA) pass to Elina Saab-Sunden (Stockholm, Sweden) resulted in a strong to the left side that was denied by a diving save from Hellerman.  The Crimson and Gray nearly made it 2-0 12 minutes later but Lily Guiliano (North Salem, NY) hit a laser off the post on a mid range shot after dribbling past defenders.
 
Hellerman made two saves en route to her fourth career clean sheet.  Sascha Fleesler (New York, NY) was credited with a pair of saves in net for the Blue.  For the match, WPI held a 10-4 edge in shots and a 5-2 advantage in corners.    
 
WPI makes its 2023 NEWMAC road debut on Tuesday at 4pm against Wheaton.  The Blue are back in action tomorrow facing off against Trinity in Hartford at 1pm.
 
Recap written by WPI Sports Information Student Assistant Maya Vartabedian '24