BABSON PARK, Mass.— Sophomore Camila Leiva (Warwick, R.I.) tallied a goal and an assist as Wheaton College defeated Babson College, 2-1, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's soccer match on Saturday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
With the setback, Babson drops to 6-7-4 overall and 3-2-4 in the NEWMAC. Wheaton has won five of its last six games to improve to 9-4-2 overall and 6-2-1 in conference matches.
Junior
Mack Feeney (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored her first goal of the season for the Beavers with an assist from classmate
Josie Lee (Duxbury, Mass.). Senior
Callahan Cottone (Medway, Mass.) made two saves in goal in the first half for the Green and White, and sophomore
Maisie Creamer (Boulder, Colo.) stopped one shot in the second half in the loss.
Senior Mackenna Reynolds (Longmeadow, Mass.) also scored her first goal of the season for Wheaton. Sophomore keeper Olivia King (Simsbury, Conn.) made six saves to earn the win in goal for the Lyons.
Babson had two outstanding opportunities to take the lead in the ninth minute. Sophomore
Sarah Hogan (South Glastonbury, Conn.) sent a nice feed into the box from the left side of the field but a header by classmate
Izzy Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.) bounced off the bottom of the crossbar and back into play. Hogan then stole Wheaton's clearing attempt inside the left side of the box but her shot went just wide of the far post.
King made a nice save going to her right on a header by
Izzy Lee in the 26th minute before the Lyons got on the scoreboard five minutes later. Leiva unleashed a beautiful shot from the top left corner of the box over the outstretched hands of Cottone, but the shot bounced off the crossbar and right to Reynolds, who buried the rebound to put the Lyons on top, 1-0, in the 31st minute.
Leiva had a strong shot from 30 yards out in the 35th minute that Cottone made a leaping punch on the ball over the top of the goal. Leiva had another good shot from long range in the 40th minute that went just wide of the left post.
Izzy Lee and Leiva each had scoring chances early in the second half denied by the opposing keepers. Creamer punched out a free kick by Leiva and Lee got a feed from junior
Lillian McAughan (Bellevue, Wash.) after a Wheaton turnover but her shot for inside the box was stopped by King.
The Lyons doubled their lead in the 58th minute when Leiva created space in transition and ripped a shot from 20 yards out that went past a diving Creamer into the upper left corner of the goal for her NEWMAC-leading 15th goal of the season.
The Beavers finally got on the scoreboard in the 74th minute to cut the deficit in half. Feeney fed Josi Lee with a pass near the top of the box, but her shot from 20 yard our hit the left goal post. Feeney pounced on the loose ball and kicked it into the back of the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Babson kept the pressure on but was unable to score an equalizer. Senior
Priscilla-Rose Men-Martin (Rolling Hills Estate, Calif.) stole a Wheaton clear but her shot went wide left, and her attempt on a loose ball in the final minute went wide left.
The Beavers finished with a 14-13 advantage in total shots and a 7-5 margin in shots on goal. The teams finished tied with five corner kicks apiece.
Babson plays its final two regular season games on the road, beginning Wednesday at local rival Wellesley at 3 p.m. Wheaton returns home for its final two regular season contests, beginning Wednesday vs. Coast Guard at 3:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Babson has dropped three straight games to Wheaton since October 25 of last season and is now 16-31-10 all-time against the Lyons in a series that dates back to 1981.
• Feeney became the 15th different player to score this season for the Beavers, who have 29 goals in their 17 matches.
•
Josie Lee now leads the team with three assists on the season, which matches her career high set last year.
