SOUTH HADLEY, Mass.— Sophomore forward Olivia Struckman scored in the fourth minute and her tally stood as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) women's soccer team defeated Mount Holyoke College, 2-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon.
The win moves the Engineers to 5-4-2 overall and 2-1-0 in conference play. MHC is now 6-3-1 and shoulders its first NEWMAC loss for a 1-1-1 mark.
Struckman (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral) had a great individual effort to get the visitors on the board early. Collecting the ball from senior forward Morgan Moroi (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany), Struckman turned toward goal and dribbled through the MHC defense. Cutting right, she made a quick move around another defender and sent a hard shot sailing into the left corner.
It was a defensive battle for the remainder of the half as Lyons keeper Zoe Marshall (Mississauga, Ont./Cawthra Park Secondary School) turned aside five shots in the opening 45 minutes. The MIT defense stifled the Lyons throughout, holding the home team to just three shots in the stanza.
In the second half, MHC came out with more intensity, but it was the Engineers that capitalized as a foul in the box by the Lyons gave the visitors a penalty kick opportunity. Stepping up to the ball for MIT was senior forward Jennifer Ibanez (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro), who rocketed the ball into the left corner of the net past a diving Marshall.
Mount Holyoke tried to battle back into it, picking up intensity in the 79th minute as sophomore midfielder Suz Rose (South Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) sent a long ball in on goal, but it was scooped up on the right side by junior goalie Lauren Ullmann (Princeton, N.J./Princeton).
First year Dale Leonheart (Petaluma, Calif./St. Vincent de Paul) had a solid chance minutes later, but her shot fell right into Ullmann's arms for the stop. The Lyons best chance came in the 87th minute as a ball came in off the corner and dropped in traffic right in front. MHC's Sara Sanaú Ruiz (Zaragoza, Spain/P.P. Dominicos – Cardenal Xavierre) was there, but unable to get a foot on it to put it in the open right corner.
In goal, Ullmann earned the win with two saves made. Marshall shouldered the loss for the Lyons, stopping six shots on the afternoon.
The Lyons are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Worcester for a 6:30pm conference game at Clark. MIT is also on the field Tuesday, hosting Wheaton at 4pm.
