SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—First-year Izzy Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored her first collegiate goal just over seven minutes into the second half to help visiting Babson College defeat Springfield College, 1-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's soccer action on Saturday afternoon at Brock-Affleck Field.
Babson improves to 2-0-3 overall and opens conference play at 1-0, while Springfield slips to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the NEWMAC.
Senior Meredith Greeley (Ottawa Hills, Ohio) and sophomore Josie Lee (Duxbury, Mass.) both picked up an assist for the Beavers. Junior goalkeeper Callahan Cottone (Medway, Mass.) made four saves in the first half and senior Cleo Grignard (Red Bank, N.J.) recorded her second victory without facing a shot over the final 45 minutes.
Junior goalkeeper Mallory Forgatch (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) finished with nine saves for the Pride.
Following a wide-open first half that included quality scoring for both sides, Lee notched the go-ahead marker in the 52nd minute. Josie Lee got a touch on Greelely's low corner kick and Izzy Lee's shot from just inside 10 yards skipped off a defender and past Forgatch.
The teams combined for nine shots on goal and 17 in total over the opening 45 minutes. Springfield senior Kayla McGrath's (North Adams, Mass.) bid to open the scoring curved just wide of the left post in the seventh minute, while Beavers' junior Olga Metelkine (Marlboro, N.J.) forced a diving save by Forgatch on the other end just over 90 seconds later.
Josie Lee missed just wide of the right post after creating space at the top of the box in the 10th minute and Cottone made her best save of the afternoon less than a minute later, racing off her line to make a sliding save after Pride first-year Katie McFerran (Selkirk, N.Y.) got behind the Babson back line.
The Beavers finished with a 23-7 advantage in shots including a 13-0 margin in the second half, and both teams attempted three corner kicks.
Babson is back in action on Sunday when it hosts Hamilton at 12 p.m., while Springfield hosts Amherst on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 9-19-6 all-time against the Pride, which includes a 3-1-4 record at Brock-Affleck Field over the last decade.
• Babson is now unbeaten in its NEWMAC opener in four consecutive seasons going back to 2022.
• The Green and White is 9-0-3 dating back to the start of the 2024 campaign when scoring the first goal of the match.
• The Beavers are now unbeaten in their last 10 games in the month of September (4-0-6) going back to last year.
