NORTON, Mass.— Junior
Josie Lee (Duxbury, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal three minutes into overtime as sixth-seeded Babson College rallied from a 2-0 deficit to knock off third-seeded Wheaton College, 3-2, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's soccer tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday afternoon at Mirrione Stadium.
With the victory, Babson evened its record at 8-8-4 overall and earns a berth in a semifinal game at second-seeded Salve Regina on Thursday at 1 p.m. Wheaton had a three-game unbeaten streak snapped and winds up its season at 10-5-3.
Senior
Priscilla-Rose Men-Martin (Rolling Hills Estate, Calif.) finished with a goal and two assists for the Beavers, including scoring the tying goal with under two minutes remaining in regulation and assisting on the game-winner. Junior
Lillian McAughan (Bellevue, Wash.) also scored for the Beavers and senior
Callahan Cottone (Medway, Mass.) made six saves in goal in the triumph.
Sophomore Karina Contreras (Pawtucket, R.I.) and senior Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.) helped Wheaton to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first 10 minutes, and sophomore Camila Leiva (Warwick, R.I.) assists on both goals is the loss. Sophomore keeper Olivia King (Simsbury, Conn.) made a career-high 12 saves in goal in the loss.
The hosts got off to a strong start with two goals in the first 10 minutes. After Cottone made a point-blank save on Leiva a minute after the opening whistle, Leiva retrieved the rebound and sent a pass from the left across the goal mouth where Contreras made a sliding chip shot over Cottone for an early 1-0 lead. Thomas then put a header past Cottone on a cross from the right side by Leiva in the 10th minute and the Lyons were off and running.
The Beavers had a 15-4 advantage in shots in the opening 45 minutes but couldn't get one into the goal. In addition to three saves by King, Wheaton defenders stopped a shot by Men-Martin on the goal line after a corner kick in the 19th minute and cleared out another attempt by Men-Martin in the 44th minute, leaving the Lyons with a 2-0 lead at the intermission.
Babson got on the scoreboard and back into the game with a goal in the 51st minute. Men-Martin delivered a perfectly placed corner kick into the box and McAughan buried it past King to cut the margin in half.
The Green and White continued to pepper the Wheaton goal in search of an equalizer. Senior
Claudia Baiter (Miami, Fla.) sent a rebound over the crossbar in the 56th minute, sophomore
Lindsey Cassady (Westfield, Ind.) whipped a shot following a corner that King snared in the 79th minute, and McAughan's attempt from the top of the box less than a minute later missed the upper right corner.
With time winding down, the Beavers kept the pressure on. McAughan cut through multiple defenders in the 85th minute but her strong shot from 15 yards out was stopped by King. Men-Martin weaved through the Wheaton defense for a solid shot in the box, but King pushed it away near the left post.
With under two minutes remaining, sophomore
Izzy Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.) was tripped up in the box, giving Babson a penalty shot which Men-Martin buried in the lower left corner to tie the score at 2-2 and sending the match into overtime.
The Beavers finished off their comeback at 3:12 of the extra season. Men-Martin dropped a pass from the left end line to
Josie Lee near the top corner of the box, and she sent a shot through traffic that found the far right of the goal for the game-winner.
The Beavers finished with a 36-8 advantage in total shots and a 18-8 margin in shots on goal as well as a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
GAME NOTES
• Babson is 17-31-10 all-time against the Lyons in a series that dates back to 1981 with its first win in six career playoff games at Wheaton (1-4-1).
• The Beavers had dropped their previous seven games this season when trailing at halftime.
• The Green and White produced their first victory when down entering the second half since defeating Coast Guard 2-1 on September 25, 2021.
• The outcome was the first Babson victory after trailing 2-0 since defeating St. John Fisher, 3-2, on August 30, 2013.
