CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Junior Sean Luk (Bel Air, Md.) scored the only goal of the match in the 56th minute to help fourth-ranked and top-seeded MIT edge third-seeded Babson College, 1-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal on Thursday night at Roberts Field. 

Babson, which advanced to the conference semifinals for the third consecutive season, sees its year come to an end at 8-7-5. MIT has won 13 consecutive matches to improve to 19-1-1 overall and is headed back to the NEWMAC final for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. 

Following a scoreless first half, Luk gave the Engineers the only goal they would need nearly 11 minutes into the second half. Senior Natalie Barnouw (Los Angeles, Calif.) drilled a low service into the box from the left wing and Luk got a foot in front of a Babson defender and flicked her first touch off the outstretched hands of Ryan and just over the goal line for here seventh tally of the season. 

The Beavers had their best chance of the game less than a minute later when a dipping 30-yard blast by senior Elisa Diletizia's (Canton, Mass.) sent first-year goalkeeper Maddy Noll (Northbrook, Ill.) diving to her right to make the save the left post. First-year Lillian McAughan (Bellevue, Wash.) also had a look at goal from distance from the right flank in the 81st minute but it sailed wide before being caught by Noll. 

The Green and White survived an early flurry by MIT that saw a header by senior Lauren Davis (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) bang off the crossbar and the rebound by sophomore Madelyn Popilek (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) get cleared out of danger by senior Jordyn Ferrantino (Millis, Mass.) in the third minute. Ryan made a diving save on a 30-yard rocket by senior Ashley English (Sheboygan, Wis.) in the 18th minute and pushed away a blast by Barnouw in the 36th minute moments after sophomore Claudia Baiter (Miami, Fla.) blocked a shot by sophomore Arianna Doss (Houston, Texas) from inside the six-yard box off a corner kick by Luk. 

The Engineers outshot the Beavers 20-2 and attempted six of the seven corner kicks in the game. 

MIT will host seventh-seeded WPI in Saturday's NEWMAC Tournament final. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 25-16-7 all-time against MIT, which includes a 4-2-3 mark versus the Engineers in the conference playoffs. 
•    Babson is 2-4 in NEWMAC semifinal matches going back to 2015. 
•    The Green and White, which allowed seven shots on target in Thursday's loss, has limited MIT to two of its five lowest shots on goal totals of the year in two meetings this fall. 
•    The Beavers are now 6-2-5 on the year when conceding one goal or fewer with both losses coming over the last three games.