First Half Struggles Doom Wellesley Soccer in 3-1 Loss to Babson

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Visting Babson College scored three goals in a 16-minute span to top the Wellesley College soccer team, 3-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday afternoon. The win improves the Beavers to 8-6-1 overall, 5-2 in the NEWMAC, while the Blue fall to 6-8-1, 3-4 in NEWMAC play.

Babson held a 10-5 advantage in first half shots, scoring three times between the 20th and 36th minutes, putting the game out of reach for the hosts. Wellesley attempted a comeback, but an 86th minute tally would be the only scoring for the Blue.

The Beavers got on the board at 25 minutes into play, when Amy Festa collected a ball that had bounced off a Wellesley defender and sent it past the Blue keeper for a 1-0 lead. The goal was her team-leading 10th of the season.

Wellesley had a chance to tie the game at 1-1 in the 28th minute when a cross from Chelsea-Ann Patry found Kara Lungmus with an open look. Her shot sailed wide, however, ending the Blue threat.

Babson pushed it to 2-0 in the 35th minute when Ashley Tourso centered a pass from Kelly Hanly and beat the Blue keeper just inside the post. The Beavers then made it 3-0, just 44 second later, when a Jessica DiPhilippo pass found Jenny Moore, who caught Wellesley's defenders sleeping and found the back of the net.

Wellesley turned up the pressure in the second half, piling on eight attempts and holding the Beavers without a single shot in the half. The Blue, however, didn't break through until the 86th minute, when Emily Wilson launched a high shot into the back left side of the net, cutting the Babson lead to 3-1. Wilson's goal came off of an assist from Megan Turchi after a free kick.

The hosts would add one more attempt before time expired, but couldn't fully rebound from the first half struggles.

Babson's Melina Kapotsis picked up the win for the Beavers, playing all 90 minutes and making seven saves. Wellesley's Claire Cerda suffered the loss, allowing three goals in the first half. Kat Goldsmith played the second half in goal and remained untested.

Wellesley is back in action on Saturday, traveling to WPI for a key NEWMAC match-up at 1:00pm. Babson also plays a NEWMAC game on Saturday, hosting Wheaton at 1:00pm.