Wellesley Soccer Drops Double-OT Heartbreaker to Bridgewater State

BABSON PARK, Mass. – Bridgewater State University senior captain Amber LaPorte scored the game-winning goal with 5:20 left in the second overtime period to lift the Bears to a thrilling 1-0 victory over Wellesley College on day two of the Wellesley College Soccer Classic at Babson's Hartwell-Rogers Field on Saturday.

With the win, Bridgewater State improves its season mark to 2-1-0, while Wellesley slips to 1-4-1 with the loss.

Wellesley's best chance of the first half came when junior Megan Turchi  found space and ripped a hard shot from 30 yards out, but Bears' sophomore goalie Kerry Condon made a clean catch near the left post. Bridgewater State then had a strong scoring opportunity when sophomore Caley McClendon broke free down the left side, but her shot attempt was smothered inside the near post by rookie keeper Claire Cerda.

Wellesley sophomore Ariel Chao had the best chance of regulation for either team early in the second half. Just over 11 minutes in, sophomore Lena Cardoso sent a perfect thru-ball up the middle of the field. A defender attempted to ward off Chao while Condon raced to the ball, but the second-year striker managed to poke the ball past the keeper toward the open net. However, as shot slowly approached the goal line, a defender came streaking in from the left side and cleared it to keep the Blue off the board.

After neither team scored in the first overtime, Bridgewater State finally clinched the victory following a Wellesley foul near midfield with under six minutes to go in the second OT. On the restart, the ball deflected off a defender in the box and went right to LaPorte, who turned and buried it into the lower left corner for the golden goal at 104:40. It was her team-leading second goal of the season.

Condon finished with five saves in the shutout victory for Bridgewater State, while Cerda stopped five shots in net in defeat for Wellesley.

Wellesley is off until September 17th when the Blue travel to Babson for their NEWMAC opener against the Beavers at 1:00pm.