For Immediate Release
April 28, 2010
Wellesley Sports Information
MIT Defeats Wellesley Lacrosse in NEWMAC Quarterfinals
WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Junior Kelly Duncan's (Rockville Centre, NY) four second half goals helped propel the fifth-seeded MIT women's lacrosse team to a 7-6 victory over number-four Wellesley College in the Quarterfinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) playoffs. The low-scoring affair took place in a steady downpour in Wellesley.
The Engineers, 9-6, advance to the NEWMAC Semifinals to take on host and number-one seed Babson College on Saturday at 11:00am. The Blue see their 2010 season come to an end with a 6-10 record.
Wellesley jumped out to a 4-1 lead in a defense-driven first half. The Blue got three scores from senior Molly Morrow (Bow, NH) and one from junior Jenny Holland (Bethesda, MD), as Wellesley out-shot the visiting Engineers 16-9. Sophomore Katie Kauffman (Olney, MD) scored the lone Engineer goal, but netminder Allison Hamilos (Medfield, MA) kept MIT in the game with nine first half saves.
In the second half, MIT struck for two early scores as Duncan and Stephanie Leger (Vienna, VA) each found the back of the net to close the gap to 4-3. Wellesley's Holland answered back with a score at 21:37 to increase the Blue advantage to 5-3.
From that point on, MIT took over, winning seven of the nine second-half draw controls and out-shooting the Blue 13-8. Duncan converted three out of her four free-position shots in a 15-minute span, while Kauffman scored on an assist from Leger giving the Engineers a 7-5 lead with 3:34 remaining. Wellesley's Allison Robbins (North Bennington, VT) closed the lead to 7-6 with 2:16 to play, but the Blue were unable to tally the equilizer and MIT closed out the 7-6 victory.
MIT's Duncan finished the afternoon with a game-high four goals, while Kauffman added two goals and an assist. Leger notched two points on a goal and an assist, while Erica Little (Sherborn, MA) added a helper for the Engineers. Defensively, Hamilos tallied 14 total saves, while Molly McShane (Lake Bluff, IL) had two caused turnovers and Leger added two draw controls.
For Wellesley, Morrow ended the game with three goals and one assist while Holland added a pair of goals. Rounding out the offense, Robbins tallied a solo score and Kate Cushing (Danvers, MA) added an assist for the Blue. Loretta White (Northampton, MA) led the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and two draw controls, while Mary Mattia (Atlanta, GA) made seven saves between the pipes for Wellesley.