No. 13 MIT Edges Coast Guard, 2-1
THE BASICS:
- Score: No. 13 MIT 2, Coast Guard 1
- Records: No. 13 MIT (14-1-0, 6-0-0 NEWMAC), Coast Guard (7-7-0, 3-4-0 NEWMAC)
- Location: New London, Conn. (Nitchman Field)
- The Lead: The No. 13 nationally-ranked MIT women's soccer team scored two goals in the first half of today's contest which was enough to defeat the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 2-1, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match on Saturday afternoon in Connecticut.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Just 4:44 into the match, MIT took the 1-0 lead when sophomore Claire O'Callaghan (Sherborn, Mass.)registered her second goal of the season on a put back shot initialed by junior Amy Apostol (Los Gatos, Calif.). Apostol's shot was saved by Coast Guard keeper Rachel Boohar and fell right to O'Callaghan's feet for the early advantage.
- Twelve minutes later, MIT doubled its lead when the duo of O'Callaghan and Apostol connected again, but this time in the opposite order. O'Callaghan sent a low cross right to Apostol, who played the ball on one touch and fired it into the back of the net for her eighth goal of the season. O'Callaghan now has two assists on the year, which ranks fourth on the team.
- Coast Guard cut the deficit in half in the 66th minute when Kali Borden connected with Claire Hurley for her fifth goal of the season. After that goal by the hosts, the Bears only had one other attempt at tying the game which came at the 73:05 mark, but MIT keeper Chris Sacha (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) saved it to preserve the advantage. MIT's back line did not allow Coast Guard to get another shot away over the final 26:55 of the game to remain undefeated in the NEWMAC and improve to 14-1 overall.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- With the win, MIT's senior class has won the most games for a class in program history with 57. The old record was set by the class of 2016 and the class of 2014 - both of which totaled 56 victories over four years.
- MIT starting goalkeeper Lily Mueller (Lakeville, Minn.) made one save over the opening 45-minutes of action to earn her 13th win of the year (13-1) before Sacha came on in the second stanza to make a pair of stops for the Engineers. Boohar registered eight saves in the loss (7-7) for Coast Guard.
- The Engineers held a 23-6 advantage in shots and an 11-0 differential in corner kicks.
- With the outcome of today's games around the league, MIT has clinched a spot in the NEWMAC Postseason Tournament marking the 18th time in program history and 11th straight year in which the Engineers have been able to reach the postseason. With still four NEWMAC games left on the schedule, MIT will await seeding pending on the results from those matches.
- In the all-time series with Coast Guard, which dates back to 2000, MIT now holds a 17-1-1- advantage in the head-to-head games between the two programs. The Engineers defeated the Bears in every matchup since 2004.
UP NEXT:
- MIT wraps up its four-game road trip with a NEWMAC match at Babson College on Tuesday, October 17 at 3:30 p.m., while Coast Guard welcomes Emerson College for a conference contest at 7:00 p.m. the same day.
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