SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- Wheaton College women's soccer freshman goalie Ali Hinton (Lafayette, Colo./Alexander Dawson School) made the biggest save of her young college career on Saturday, and senior Samantha Cronin (Wethersfield, Conn./Wethersfield) followed with the winning penalty-kick goal that advanced the third-seeded Lyons past second seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and into tomorrow's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament final at Springfield College.

Advancing to its 11th NEWMAC Tournament championship game and first since 2008, Wheaton will face the host Pride tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. with the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament at stake.  The Lyons, who are ranked 16th in the country and third in New England by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), are now 16-1-5.  MIT, which is tied with Springfield and one other for sixth in the region, is 13-3-2.  Wheaton is seeking its eighth NEWMAC Tournament crown.

Hinton entered the game for the first time following 110 minutes of play, relieving freshman Taylor Wilson (Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham), who finished with three saves while keeping MIT off the board for the final 93:32.  Hinton stopped the Engineers' first and fifth penalty kicks in the round of five, and the Lyons converted on four of five attempts.

In addition to Cronin, seniors Cassey Muse (Candia, N.H./Central) and Jordan Muse (Candia, N.H./Central) and sophomore Lauren Corigliano (Roselle Park, N.J./Roselle Park) also found the back of the net during kicks.

After finding itself down 1-0 at halftime, Wheaton turned up the offensive pressure in the second frame, beginning with junior Kristina Braga's (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) marker off a corner kick 8:42 in.  Braga's boot bent toward the goal, deflected off MIT senior keeper Meghan Wright's (Devon, Pa./Conestoga) hands and carried into the net to knot the game at one.

Braga and the Lyons stayed on the attack in the overtime periods, with Braga and Cassey Muse each taking a shot in the first and second extra sessions.  In the first overtime, Braga's on-on-one attempt against Wright 1:08 in went wide and Muse's shot with 57 ticks left was saved.

The second extra period saw Braga again alone with Wright, but Braga was denied by the Engineer keeper 3:24 into the frame.  Wheaton's last-gasp effort to end the game prior to kicks came with 33 ticks on the clock, but Muse's valiant attempt carried just to the right of the target.

Like Wilson, Wright was credited with three saves.  Despite taking just three shots after halftime, MIT finished with a 7-6 edge.  Both teams took four corner kicks apiece.