Wellesley Soccer Can't Keep Pace With No. 13 MIT

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Five different players scored for MIT, as the visiting Engineers cruised to a 5-0 victory over Wellesley College soccer in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday afternoon at the Wellesley Fields Complex.

MIT, No. 13 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division III Coaches Poll, is now 13-1 on the season and remains perfect in NEWMAC play with a mark of 5-0-0. Wellesley has now lost three-straight and drops to 3-8-2 overall and 2-4-0 in conference. 

Junior Amy Apostol (Los Gatos, Calif.) scored the game-winning goal in the eighth minute of the game, depositing her own rebound after Wellesley sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Reckley (Grosse Ile, Mich.) denied a close range attempt on her first bid. Apostol's seventh of the year made the score 1-0.

MIT carried the lead into the final minute of the first half before making the score 2-0 on a corner kick. With the clocking winding down, sophomore Emily Berzolla (Riverside, Conn.) whipped the corner straight into the Wellesley net for her fourth of the season.

It took just over eight minutes into the second half before MIT found a third goal thanks to a great individual effort from sophomore Sophia Struckman (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Struckman dribbled through several Wellesley defenders in the penalty area before laying the ball off for classmate Allie Werner (Tyler, Texas) to fire into the net.

Berzolla then picked-up an assist on a corner kick when senior Olivia Struckman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) redirected the corner cross with her heel to make the score 4-0 at 57:32. The Engineers closed out the 5-0 score line when Chessa Hoekstra (Portland, Maine) scored her team-leading ninth goal of the season on a one-time assist from first year Kiara Wahnschafft (Winchester, Mass.) just minutes after Wahnschafft had checked into the game. 

MIT junior Lily Mueller (Lakeveille, Minn.) made five saves en route to her 12th victory and third shutout of the year. Reckley (3-8-2) stopped six shots for the Blue.

The Engineers finished the contest with a 20-8 edge in shots and an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks. Senior Melise Knowles (Diablo, Calif.) had a team-high three shots for the Blue.

Both teams will be on the road for NEWMAC games at 1:00 PM on Saturday, October 14. Wellesley will play at Emerson and MIT will travel to Coast Guard.