WORCESTER --- Abigail Johnson (Middletown, CT) and Madisen McLeod (Ledyard, CT) accounted for goals in the first half as the defense stymied the Corsairs in a 2-0 non-conference victory at UMass Dartmouth's Cressy Field on Wednesday evening.

With the win, the Engineers improve to 3-2-1 on the season as UMass Dartmouth falls to 2-4-1.

The shots from WPI started right away as Maeve Steckley (Rochester, NY) tested Dartmouth's Marina Cassano (Bloomfield, CO) with a shot on frame just 37 seconds into the match. Lilly Jaeger (Enfield, CT) responded minutes later with a strike for the Corsairs as it was steered away by WPI's Ayla Verheul (Naarden, The Netherlands). Johnson and Steckley continued to exchange shots. In 18th minute, Verheul made a save and a throw up the right side of the field to Johnson who played to Katie Adiletta (Bolton, MA) then over to Madison Shaw (Cheshire, CT) who led with a through ball back to Johnson who laced a ball off the left post and in for the first marker of the match.

WPI continued rattle off five consecutive shots with one finding the target but kept away. As the Corsairs defense battled to clear the ball away from their end McLeod stepped in front of a pass back to the back line by Dartmouth, took one dribble to towards the right side and rifled off a shot at the opposite end to get back cleanly for her first-career goal extending the lead to two with just three minutes left in the half.

UMass Dartmouth's Kiariana Williams (Meriden, CT) and Anna Keller (Ellicott City, MD) recorded the first two strikes for the hosts but were unable to find the frame as Johnson and Adiletta registered shots on goal but were kept away by Tori Russo (Milford, MA) within the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Despite the Engineers outshooting the Corsairs 12-5 in the second half, the Crimson and Gray were unable to find the back of the net as UMass Dartmouth's Williams put a final strike on frame at 88:53 but was steered away by WPI's Maya Mussel (Oxford, CT).

On the afternoon, the Engineers held the advantage over the hosts in shots (23-7), shots on goal (12-3), and corner kicks (4-2).

In between the pipes, Verheul took first half duties and logged a pair of saves as Mussel closed out the evening with a lone save as WPI compiled its third shoutout of the season. On the other end, Cassano made three saves on five shots faced as Russo made seven saves for the Corsairs in the final 45 minutes of play.

Both teams return to action on Saturday at 1pm as the Engineers head back to Worcester to host Clark on Saturday in NEWMAC play as UMass Dartmouth travels to Keene State for Little East matchup.

Box Score