For Immediate Release
November 3, 2007
Wellesley Sports Information
Contact: Lauren Ferrett
Wellesley College Soccer Falls to Babson in NEWMAC Semis
Box Score
WELLESLEY, MA – Third-seeded Babson College withstood a late rally from #7 Wellesley College to advance to the 2007 New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women’s Soccer Championships on Sunday. The Beavers were 3-2 winners over the Blue in a rainy and windy affair held on the Wellesley campus.
The game went back and forth at the start of the first half with the best chance for either team coming in the 15th minute when Wellesley’s Jordan Akerley (Gilford, NH) got the ball on a breakaway. Akerley launched a shot, but Babson keeper Sam Scarpato (Weston, MA) dove and knocked the ball away to preserve the 0-0 tie.
In the 30th minute, Babson struck first with a goal by Shir Castel (Boston, MA) that was just over the head of Wellesley keeper Katie Martore (Great Falls, VA). The score gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead that they would carry into halftime.
Babson retained the momentum after the half and scored twice in the first 10 minutes to take a 3-0 lead. At 52:09, Castel scored her second goal of the game off of an assist from Nikki Stier (Deerfield, MA). Just a little over two minutes later, Stier scored a goal of her own, the eventual game-winner, which gave the Beavers a 3-0 advantage.
The game appeared to be out of reach for Wellesley until the 78th minutes when Blue senior Jennifer Lau (Honolulu, HI) scored unassisted to cut the Babson lead to 3-1. 45 seconds later, Lau struck again, this time on a pass from Deirdre Garrahan (Fairfax Station, VA) that closed the score to 3-2, still in favor of Babson.
With the lead down to just one, Babson went back on the attack. Castel launched two shots that were saved by Martore in the final ten minutes and then, with 3:40 left to play, Babson’s Callie Pillig (Dalton, MA) shot a ball that appeared to be headed toward the goal. However, Wellesley’s Kathleen Keating (Arlington, VA) knocked the ball away to keep the score at 3-2.
Wellesley was unable to control play over the remaining three minutes of the game as Babson held on for the 3-2 win.
For Wellesley, Martore finished with 10 saves. The Blue end the season with a 7-8-3 record and will await ECAC playoff selections.
Scarpato finished the game with five saves for the Beavers. The win improves Babson’s record to 11-6-2 on the season and advances them to the championship game where they will take on Wheaton College at Wheaton tomorrow at 1:00.