BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Justin Laurenzo (Park Ridge, N.J.) scored once in each half, as fourth-seeded Babson College defeated fifth-seeded MIT, 2-0, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) quarterfinal match on Wednesday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.

With its eighth win in the last nine games, Babson moves to 15-5-0 overall and advances to the conference semifinals for the eighth consecutive season. MIT, which entered the postseason having won four of its last five contests, sees its season come to an end at 8-7-3 overall.

The Beavers had the three best scoring opportunities of the opening half hour but were unable to convert on the first two, as Laurenzo missed wide on a header off a service from the right sideline in the ninth minute, and junior Tyler Carlos (Prospect, Conn.) drilled a 40-yard blast just over the crossbar 15 minutes into the match. Laurenzo gave the Green and White the lead with his 13th goal of the season in the 28th minute though, collecting a feed from sophomore Shane Mandel (Syosset, N.Y.), turning toward goal, and drilling a 25-yard shot over the head of Engineers' senior goalkeeper Sam Cannon (Scarsdale, N.Y.), who was well off his line, for a 1-0 lead.

MIT's best scoring chance of the game came in the 36th minute on the counter attack following a Babson free kick. Junior Sean Bingham (Garden City, N.Y) got to a loose ball in the midfield and carried it down the center of the field before hitting a diagonal through ball to sophomore Kareem Itani (Dallas, Texas), who broke inside the box only to mishit his shot wide.

The Beavers extended their lead on Laurenzo's second marker of the day just 3:24 into the second half. Following an Engineers' foul just inside of midfield, junior Mario Vicente (Miami, Fla.) drove a line-drive free kick into the box for Laurenzo, who was able to get behind the defense and flick a header from 10 yards past the charging keeper for his 14th goal of the year.

Babson was unable to capitalize on a pair of chances in the early part of the stanza, but the two-goal edge was more than enough for its defense, which allowed just two shots on target. MIT first-year Joshua Wilson (West Chester, Pa.) blasted a 25-yard free kick into the Beavers' four-man wall in the 73rd minute, and a lofted ball into the box off a restart by senior Gordon Glober (Jacksonville, Fla.) slipped through the hands of junior goalkeeper Stephen Donato (Morganville, N.J.) in the 79th minute but was cleared out of danger by senior Patrick Ellis (Braintree, Mass.).

Donato made his best save of the day, diving to his right, to deny a strike by Itani from just outside the right edge of the six-yard box with 5:59 left in regulation. He also watched a free kick from Bingham go wide of the left post in the 86th minute.

The shutout was the fourth of the year for Donato, who finished with two saves to earn his ninth victory of the season. Cannon also stopped two shots for the Engineers, who had not allowed more than a single goal in a match since October 4.

The Beavers held a 13-10 edge in shots, while MIT attempted three of the game's four corner kicks.

Babson returns to action on Saturday when it travels to top-seeded Wheaton College for a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal match at 10:30 a.m.

GAME NOTES: The Beavers are now 37-7-4 all-time against MIT and have gone 8-1-2 in the last 11 meetings between the two sides…Babson is 5-2-2 against MIT in nine postseason matches…Wednesday's victory pushed the Beavers' record to 9-0-3 in NEWMAC Tournament games at Hartwell-Rogers Field since 2006…Laurenzo's 14 goals are the most in a season since Eric Anderson '12 scored 15 in 2011 and are tied for the sixth most in a single season in program history…Carlos, who had an assist on the game's first goal, has now tallied at least a point in seven of the last eight matches.