CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—First-year Claire Zhang (Charlotte, N.C.) scored once in each half as No. 5 MIT defeated visiting Bason College, 2-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's soccer action on Saturday evening at Roberts Field.
Babson, which was unbeaten through its first six league matches for the second year in a row, is now 6-6-3 overall and 3-1-3 in conference play. MIT, which extended its NEWMAC unbeaten streak to 41 games, improves to 13-2-1 overall and 7-0 in league play.
Senior goalkeeper
Callahan Cottone (Medway, Mass.) finished with eight saves for the Beavers. Her counterpart, Engineers' senior Cassidy Jennings (Sioux Falls, S.D.) turned away one shot in her fourth start of the season.
Cottone came up with a pair of terrific saves in the early going, diving to her right to get a hand on senior Madelyn Popilek's (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) shot from the right edge of the box in the eighth minute, before snaring a rising blast from distance by MIT senior Arianna Doss (Houston, Texas) in the 19th minute. The hosts broke through in the 25th minute though as Zhang tucked a low strike inside the right post after having her initial shot blocked by Beavers' sophomore
Lindsey Cassady (Westfield, Ind.).
Babson did not allow a shot over the final 20 minutes of the opening stanza only to see Zhang complete her brace just 15 seconds into the second half. After taking a pass from Doss along the right flank, she cut inside and picked out the upper left corner from 25 yards out for her team-leading 11th goal. MIT had a chance to add to its lead in the 72nd minute when junior Amara Ukomadu (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) was cut down in the box, but Cottone denied her attempt at the right post on the ensuing penalty kick.
Beavers' junior
Lillian McAughan (Bellevue, Wash.) forced Jennings to make a save at the near post on her dipping half-volley just 2:53 into the match, and she also missed wide of the left post on a shot from distance in the 63rd minute. First-year
Jaxie Hrkach (Lexington, Mass.) also sailed a shot over the crossbar in the 62nd minute following a corner kick by Cassady.
The Engineers finished with an 18-3 advantage in shots and also attempted six of the game's eight corner kicks.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson hosts Smith at 3 p.m., while MIT travels to Wheaton for a 3:30 p.m. start.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 25-18-7 all-time against MIT but have dropped five straight since defeating the Engineers back in 2023.
• Saturday's setback was just Babson's second loss in nine conference road matches going back to last season.
• Five of the Green and White's six losses this fall have come when trailing at halftime.
• Babson's three total shots and one shot on goal are both season lows.
