CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Worcester State University Lancers (2-1) women's soccer team outlived the MIT Engineers (1-2) by a final score of 1-0 in non-conference action Tuesday night at Steinbrenner Stadium.
Lancers junior midfielder Briana Moreno (Lynn, Mass.) fed the ball to senior forward Alicia Macomber (Stoughton, Mass.) in the 55th minute for the games' only goal. Moreno stood 40-yards from the goalkeeper, when she passed the ball to Macomber, who was positioned at the corner of the box. Macomber proceeded to fire the ball into the upper left corner of the net to give Worcester State the 1-0 lead, in what later proved to be the game winning goal.
"It was a heartfelt victory, as MIT is a great team," said Worcester State's head coach, Kevin Cumberbatch.
The Engineers had plenty of scoring opportunities, as the Cardinal and Gray fired a season-high 25 shots, 12 of them saved by Worcester State senior net minder Jillian Witkowski (Leicester, Mass.).
With 7:02 expired in the first half, MIT senior Jennifer Ibanez (West Windsor, N.J.) took a free kick from 10 yards away that ricocheted off the cross bar, back into the playing field. As the ball was knocked back into play, junior Kathleen Chen (Chappaqua, N.Y.) headed the ball right into the fingertips of Witkowski, preserving the 0-0 score.
Three minutes later, MIT sophomore Jane Fessenden (Orinda, Calif.) was awarded a corner kick. Fessenden lined up with her offense in the box and booted the kick to Ibanez, who headed a shot, but once again the Engineers couldn't come away with a goal.
At 31:56, Worcester State freshman Nikki DiPilla (Sterling, Mass.) broke away from a pair of MIT defenders on a pass from Macomber, but Engineers' junior goalkeeper Lauren Ullmann (Princeton, N.J.), who registered five saves in the loss, dove for the ball, as once again the score remained knotted at zero.
The second half featured much of the same back and forth action for both squads until the scoreless game was ended by Macomber's first goal of the season. Much like the first half, MIT had multiple scoring chances to try and even the game at 1-1, but the Worcester State defense held strong and sealed the win for the visiting Lancers, 1-0.
The Cardinal and Gray outshot the Lancers 25-9 and held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks. Ibanez led the way for MIT with seven shots, while senior forward Morgan Moroi (New Albany, Ohio) booted six of her own shots.
"We made some progress tonight, but still have a lot of work to do," said Cumberbatch.
MIT (1-2) travels across town to Lesley University on Saturday, September 12 for a 5:00 p.m. kickoff, while Worcester State (2-1) hosts Clark University in its home opener the same day at noon.
Release Courtesy of MIT Sports Information
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