Blair converts eighth career penalty kick to push Wheaton's NEWMAC record to 4-0-0

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's soccer team, ranked No. 14 overall in the D3soccer.com national poll and No. 17 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national rankings, remained undefeated in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play with a 1-0 victory over MIT on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Field.

Wheaton senior forward Travis Blair (Hastings, N.Y./Hastings) converted his eighth career penalty kick in the 11th minute of the contest, while junior goalkeeper Matt Dickey (Newton, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon School) stopped a game-high six shots to help the Lyons improve to 11-2-1 overall and 4-0-0 in league play on the season.

After MIT committed a hand ball violation inside the box at the 10:32 mark, Blair struck his team-leading tenth goal of the season into the lower right side of the net to push Wheaton ahead 1-0. Overall in his career (70 games played), Blair is 8-for-8 in penalty kick attempts and 3-for-3 so far in 2014.

The Engineers concluded the first half with a 9-6 margin in shots, including a 5-4 differential in shots on goal, and a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks. In the second half, Wheaton upped its offensive pressure outshooting MIT, 7-4, in the final stanza to tie the hosts in shots at 13 apiece for the contest, while MIT went on to earn an 8-2 split in corner kicks.

Engineers' junior goalkeeper Jake Amereno (Commack, N.Y./Commack) finished with three saves for the hosts, all coming in the first half.

Dickey turned away his only test in the second half with a save on junior midfielder Austin Freel's (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) late scoring bid at the 78:24 mark to produce his third clean sheet this season and 13th overall in his career. Dickey also bumped his record to 6-0-0 on the year and 25-11-4 overall in 41 games played in a Wheaton uniform.

Wheaton (11-2-1, 4-0-0 NEWMAC) visits Bridgewater State University on Wednesday, October 15 for a non-league contest at 7 p.m. MIT (4-4-4, 1-3-0 NEWMAC) travels to Worcester, Mass. on Saturday, October 18 for a NEWMAC clash against Clark University at 1 p.m.  With today's win, Wheaton is now 17-5-3 in the all-time series versus MIT, which dates back to 1998.

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