For Immediate Release
October 10, 2009
Wellesley Sports Information
Release Courtesy MIT Sports Information
Second-Half Surge Not Enough as Wellesley Soccer Falls to MIT
Box Score
CAMBRIDGE, Mass - The MIT women's soccer team used two first half goals to defeat Wellesley on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Field. While Wellesley controlled most of the second-half action, the Engineers held on for a 2-1 victory over the Blue.
In the 17th minute, MIT's Lauren Hernley sent a pass through two Wellesley defenders to find senior Liz Theurer open on the other side. Wellesley keeper Katie Martore (Great Falls, VA) charged out of the goal to break up the charge, but Theurer's loft sent the ball just out of Martore's reach and bouncing into the goal.
The Engineers opened up the lead in the 37th minute. Collecting a pass from Katie Pesce, sophomore Alisha Lussiez broke from the defense and rushed the goal, again forcing Martore to step away from the net. Martore's block barely missed Lussiez's shot which caught the inside of the right post and bounced into the net.
Wellesley applied strong pressure at the end of the first half and carried that momentum coming out of the break. The Blue controlled much of the early second half and in the 60th minute, their efforts paid dividends. Chelsea-Ann Patry's (Warrenton, VA) pass found senior Catherine Caruso (Belmont, MA) open in the penalty area. Caruso fired a blast from ten yards past goalie Katy Olesnavage to close the gap to 2-1.
Wellesley, backed by a vocal contingent of spectators, kept pressure on MIT, but was unable to capitalize on any other chances. For Olesnavage, the match marked her first full game for the Engineers and her second win of the season. Wellesley's Martore tallied six saves on the game but suffered her first conference loss.
MIT (6-4-1, 2-1-1 NEWMAC) travels to New Haven, Conn. to face the United States Coast Guard Academy in its next match on Tuesday, October 13, at 4 p.m. Wellesley (4-5-2, 2-1-1 NEWMAC) also plays Tuesday when it hosts conference rival Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 4:15 p.m.