BABSON PARK, Mass.— Sophomore Josie Lee (Duxbury, Mass.) scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 78th minute to break a 1-1 tie and Babson College held on to defeat Clark University, 2-1, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's soccer match Wednesday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.

With the victory, the Beavers remain undefeated in NEWMAC play at 4-0-0 and improve to 5-1-4 overall, while the Cougars drop to 4-3-4 overall and 0-2-2 in conference play.

Sophomore Lillian McAughan (Bellevue, Wash.) also scored for the Green and White, and sophomore Alexa Pesiridis (Hollis, N.H.) and first-year Izzy Reidy (Needham, Mass.) registered assists. First-year keeper Maisie Creamer (Boulder, Colo.) made her first career start in goal and finished with four saves in the victory.

Sophomore Solimar Rivera (Worcester, Mass.) scored for the Cougars with an assist from classmate Georgia Louis (West Hartford, Conn.). Junior Ava Lepro (Guilford, Conn.) made four saves in goal in the setback.

Babson managed five shots in the first 15 minutes but only one on target, which was corralled by Lepro. The Beavers broke through in the 20th minute when first-year Lindsey Cassady (Westfield, Ind.) sent a long free kick from near the midfield stripe into the box, and after the ball bounced around off of a couple players, McAughan hit the loose ball out of the air into the left side of the goal past a diving Lepro for her first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

The rest of the first half was uneventful, but things picked up after the break, leading to an exciting second half. Lee broke loose on the left side in the 49th minute and sent a long shot towards the right post, which was punched away by a diving Lepro. McAughan created some space 20 yards out in the 50th minute and ripped a shot that was deflected by Lepro before hitting the left post.

Clark had a good opportunity in the 55th minute when Louis sent a through ball over the Babson defense but Creamer made her best save of the day, diving to her left to stop a shot from 15 yards out by sophomore Selene Hammad (Franklin, Mass.). Babson came right back less than a minute later when junior Olga Metelkine (Marlboro, N.J.) got behind the Clark defense and stepped around Lepro, but her shot from the left side was knocked out of harm's way near the goal by first-year defender Fotini Grontzos (Hopkinton, Mass.).

The Cougars tied the game at 1-1 in the 71st minute when Louis sent a through ball from midfield that Rivera tracked down inside the box and stepped around Creamer before depositing into an open net for her sixth goal of the season.

Babson would not be denied and scored what would be the game-winner in the 78th minute. Reidy tipped a loose ball to Pesiridis in their own third of the field, and Pesiridis sent a long ball into the Clark zone, where Lee tracked it down and hit a shot past Lepro from the top of the 18-yard box into the right side of the goal.

The Green and White finished with a 16-8 margin in total shots, and a 7-5 edge in shots on target while taking four corner kicks to three for Clark.

Both teams are back in action with a NEWMAC match on Saturday as Babson travels to Mount Holyoke for a 1 p.m. match and Clark visits Smith for a 12 p.m. kick-off.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won four of the last five matches vs. the Cougars and is 21-12-5 all-time against Clark in a series that dates back to 1994.
• All 10 Beaver outcomes this season have been decided by one goal or ended in a tie, and the streak is 11 going back to the NEWMAC Tournament last year.
• The Green and White has won four straight games to begin NEWMAC play for the first time since 2011 when they topped Wellesley, Smith, WPI and Clark en route to going unbeaten over its first seven matches (6-0-1).
• Babson is 3-0-3 at Hartwell-Rogers Field this fall and is unbeaten over its last 11 home matches (8-0-3) over the last calendar year.