10/28/2008
MIT Edges Women's Soccer, 1-0

WORCESTER, MASS. 10/28/08 - Freshman Alisha Lussiez's (Livonia, Mich.) goal in the 69th minute stood up as the game-winner as the MIT Engineers posted a 1-0 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) womens soccer victory over Clark University on a rainy Tuesday night at Granger Field.

With the win, MIT (6-8-2, 4-3-2) secured the fifth seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament and will face Wellesley College on Saturday (TBA). The sixth seed, Clark (7-9, 4-5 NEWMAC) will go up against Babson College on that same day (TBA).

Lussiez converted the game-winner when she dangled around a pair of Cougar defenders and used a hard shot to beat keeper Joanna Clark (Windham, Me.) for her team-leading eighth goal of the season.

Clark missed an opportunity to knot the score when MIT goalie Stephanie Brenman (Newton, Mass.) was out of position with less than 10 minutes remaining. Freshman defender Rachel Minsky (Bronx, N.J.) corralled a loose ball in front of the goal, but her bid was cleared by an Engineer defender before it crossed the goal line.

The Cougars had several more opportunities to get on the board in the waning minutes. Junior Charlotte Bowmans (Peterborough, N.H.) shot sailed just over the cross bar at the 6:26 mark and a drive by junior Lauren King (Piscataway, N.J.) floated high with 2:23 to go.

Clark dominated from the start with advantages in shots (14-4) and corner kicks (9-3), but could not break through.

Clark made two saves in goal for the hosts. Brenman stopped four shots for MIT.

Prior to tonight's contest, seniors Maria Arabatzis, Heather Winn and Julia Rizzo were honored for playing in their final regular season home game.