NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team was defeated by visiting No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4-0, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Mirrione Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 8-4-2 overall and 5-2-1 in league play, while the Engineers, who are currently ranked in the most recent United Soccer Coaches national poll, have won five straight and seven of their last eight to improve to 14-2-1 and a perfect 8-0. With the results of today's conference matches across the league, Wheaton has clinched a playoff berth in the NEWMAC Championship Tournament.
MIT owned a definitive shot advantage of 30-4, including all 15 shots in the second half and was awarded all 11 corner kicks in the match.
Wheaton received a shot each from sophomores Camila Leiva (Warwick, R.I.), Karina Contreras (Pawtucket, R.I.) and Kate Rafferty (Westerly, R.I.) and junior midfielder Emma-Jane Parsons (Oakland, Maine). Sophomore keeper Olivia King (Simsbury, Conn.) matched her career high with 10 saves for the Lyons.
Senior forward Arianna Doss (Houston, Texas) netted a pair of goals to lead the Engineers. Doss was joined by MIT senior back Madelyn Popilek (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and first year forward Leah Berey (West Hartford, Conn.) with a goal each for the visitors. Junior midfielder Skye Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.) notched two assists. Junior keeper Maddy Noll (Northbrook, Ill.) stopped all four shots she faced to record her seventh shutout of the season.
The Engineers tallied the first two markers of the day in a span of just under four minutes with Williams assisting on both scores. Williams sent a cross from the top of the box to Doss on the right side, who received the ball, made a move and fired a right-footed shot into the far left post for a 1-0 edge in the 22nd minute. Williams sent the ball to the top of the box, where Popilek stepped into the ball and lifted a shot over the keeper for her fifth marker of the year in the 26th minute.
Doss struck again in the 60th minute with her seventh goal of the year to give MIT a 3-0 lead. Senior forward Ayla Sumer (Dallas, Texas) created the opportunity when she intercepted the clearing strike from the Wheaton keeper and sent a thru-ball into the middle of the Lyons' defensive zone for Doss, who picked up the ball on the run and ripped a scoring shot into the left corner with 29:55 remaining in the contest.
The Engineers added an insurance marker just over seven minutes later to make it 4-0. Junior forward Amara Ukomadu (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) carried the ball into the box on the right side, before sending a cross to Berey on her left for a shot that found the back of the net on the near side for her first collegiate goal.
Wheaton returns to action when it travels to Babson Park, Mass. to play NEWMAC rival Babson College on Saturday, October 24 at 1:00 p.m., while MIT returns to the the pitch on the same day and time and heads to South Hadley, Mass. to take on conference foe Mount Holyoke College.
