Babson Surges Past Soccer, 3-2

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BABSON PARK, Mass. (Oct. 17, 2009) – First year forward Amy Festa lifted the Babson College women’s soccer to a 3-2 triumph over New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe Mount Holyoke College this afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field. Festa found the net two times for the Beavers, who overcame an early deficit with three second half tallies.

The Lyons struck first just 8:26 into the match, when senior forward Lauren Orr beat a defender at the top of the box and nestled a breakaway shot inside the left post. It proved to be the lone goal of the opening frame for either side.

Babson took control of things in the second half, exploding for three unanswered goals over a span of 21 minutes.

Festa’s first tally of the day evened things up at one goal apiece in the 51st minute. Classmate Kelly Hanly was credited with the assist on the play after her serve from the right side found Festa, who poured in a shot from close range. Festa then put her team in front 2-1 just under nine minutes later, when she headed in a cross from another first year, Ashley Tourso. Junior forward Patty Pytlik converted another Tourso feed to extend the Beavers cushion to 3-1 at the 71:48 mark.

Refusing to go away, Mount Holyoke sliced the deficit to 3-2 in the 82nd minute on a goal by sophomore midfielder Mary Cooke. After intercepting the ball in the midfield, Cooke broke free down the right side and slipped a shot past Babson junior goalkeeper Sarah Macary into the lower left corner.

From there, both teams went scoreless.

Babson (10-5-1, 3-3-0 NEWMAC) finished with large edges in both shots (23-6) and corner kick opportunities (13-1). Macary made one save, while first year Ingibjörg Magnúsdóttir came up with seven stops for the Lyons.

Mount Holyoke (2-11-0, 1-5-0 NEWMAC) will return to action on Saturday, when it travels to Clark University for a league tilt beginning at 6:00 p.m.