BABSON PARK, Mass.— Senior
Priscilla-Rose Men-Martin (Rolling Hills Estate, Calif.) scored two goals for her first career multi-goal game as Babson College blanked Springfield College, 3-0, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's soccer opener Saturday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
Babson snapped a three-game losing streak and improved its record to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in the NEWMAC. Springfield dropped its fourth game in a row and fell to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Sophomore
Izzy Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored her first goal of the season for the Beavers, and junior
Josie Lee (Duxbury, Mass.) and sophomore
Lindsey Cassady (Westfield, Ind.) registered assists. Senior
Callahan Cottone (Medway, Mass.) made three saves in goal for her first clean sheet in goal and the sixth of her career.
Senior Mallory Forgatch (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) finished with three saves in the Pride goal in the setback.
Babson jumped out in front in the sixth minute when
Josie Lee sent a pass from the top left corner of the box to
Izzy Lee in the middle, and she stepped passed a defender before burying a shot inside the right corner of the goal to an early 1-0 lead.
The Beavers nearly doubled the score in the 21st minute when
Josie Lee ripped a shot from the top left corner of the box but it sailed narrowly over the cross bar on the far side.
Men-Martin gave the Beavers a two-goal lead on a corner kick in the 33rd minute. Cassady delivered a beautiful feed on the corner into the six-yard box, and Men-Martin knocked a header past Forgatch into the back of the net for her first goal of the season.
The Green and White had another solid scoring opportunity in the 57th minute when
Josie Lee set up senior
Caroline Sutherland (Millville, Mass.) for a shot from 10 yards out on the right side of the 18-yard box, but Forgatch punched the ball over the cross bar.
Babson put an insurance goal on the scoreboard in the 87th minute when junior
Lillian McAughan (Bellevue, Wash.) was taken down in the box and a penalty kick was called. Men-Martin stepped up to the dot and ripped a shot into the upper right corner past Forgatch for her second goal of the game.
Springfield made a last gasp attempt at a comeback with a pair of corner kicks in the final two minutes could not penetrate the Babson defense. The back line of Sutherland, Cassady, and seniors
Claudia Baiter (Miami, Fla.) and
Jadyn Mapura (East Hanover, N.J.) keyed the defense to the shutout victory.
Babson had a slim 15-12 margin in total shots, including 6-3 in attempts on target. The Pride had a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.
Both teams return to action with non-conference contests on Tuesday as Babson visits UMass Boston at 7 p.m. and Springfield hosts No. 6 Wesleyan at 6 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Babson has won three straight games over Springfield and is 10-19-6 all-time against the Pride in a series that dates back to 1998.
• Men-Martin tripled her career goal total, scoring for the first time since her only previous goal which came in a 5-0 victory over Mount Holyoke on October 12, 2024.
• The Beavers put three goals on the scoreboard for the first time since a 3-0 victory over Wellesley on October 29 last year, the only three-goal game last season.
