BABSON PARK, Mass.— Senior Sonia Neighbors (Montclair, N.J.) scored the only goal of the game in the 18th minute as New York University slid past Babson College, 1-0, in the NCAA Division III women's soccer opener for both schools Tuesday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
Both teams had several scoring opportunities, particularly in the second half. NYU is off to a 1-0-0 start to the season while Babson opens up its campaign at 0-1-0 under first-year head coach
Kerry Baldwin.
Sophomore Maddy Tohanczyn (Hope, Maine) made three saves in goal to register the clean sheet for the visitors. Senior
Callahan Cottone (Medway, Mass.) made one first-half save and sophomore
Maisie Creamer (Boulder, Colo.) made six second-half stops for the Beavers in the setback.
The Violets had the early advantage before putting the first goal of the season on the board. Graduate student Tusca Mahmoudpour (Lorton, Va.) fed Neighbors, who was streaking down the left side. Neighbors evaded a defender as she broke into the box, then split a pair of defenders before ripping a shot past the Cottone inside the left post and into the back of the net. NYU had a 6-1 advantage in shots in the first half but managed just the one goal.
The Beavers came alive to start the second half, with
Lillian McAughan (Bellevue, Wash.) and junior
Josie Lee (Duxbury, Mass.) putting shots on goal that were corralled by Tohanczyn. The Violets nearly extended their lead in the 54th minute when Mahmoudpour ran down a through ball behind the Babson defense and moved around a charging Creamer before putting a shot toward the goal, but sophomore
Lindsey Cassady (Westfield, Ind.) hustled back and booted the ball out of harm's way just before it crossed the goal line.
Creamer had a solid save in traffic in the 59th minute when junior Julia Spang (Chapel Hill, N.C.) hit a loose ball in the crease. Creamer also denied sophomore Maya Panicker (Bethesda, Md.) when she dove to cover up a loose ball in the 78th minute, and made back-to-back stops on Mahmoudpour and Spang with three minutes remaining.
NYU finished with a 15-6 advantage in shots, including 9-3 in attempts on target. The visitors took four of the five corner kicks in the match.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday as Babson hosts Union at 1 p.m. at Hartwell-Rogers Field while the Violets entertain No. 8 MIT in their home opener at 1 p.m. at Lubetkin Field in Newark, N.J.
GAME NOTES
• Saturday's game was the first career meeting between the two programs.
• The Beavers are 14-7-4 in season openers dating back to 2001.
• The starting lineup for the Green and White included six seniors, two juniors and three sophomores.
