The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

NORTON, MA- Freshman Melida Alvarez (Saugus, MA/Buckingham Browne & Nichols) tallied her eighth game-winning goal of the season, lifting the top-seeded Wheaton College women's soccer team past number four Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 2-0 in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal on Saturday at Mirrione Stadium.

Now 20-0-1, Wheaton will host number three Babson College tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in the league championship game. The Lyons downed the Beavers, 1-0 on October 16 and aim to corral their seventh NEWMAC Tournament title in eight years. Wheaton is ranked seventh nationally and second in New England by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and extended its league unbeaten streak to 87 games. The Engineers fell to 12-6.

Alvarez got her foot on a pair of shots early for the Lyons before tallying the game's initial goal 15:18 into the contest. The first-year forward's attempt from 20 yards out lofted toward the goal, where junior keeper Stephanie Brenman (Newton, MA/The Winsor School) jumped high to get fingers on the ball before it drifted into the upper right corner. Senior Ashley Furr (Chicopee, MA/Cathedral) assisted. Brenman prevented Wheaton from making it 2-0 in the 36th minute, turning aside a point-blank shot.

Early in the second half, Lyon freshman Emily Hough (Norwich, VT/Hanover) found herself with a couple of scoring opportunities, including being stopped by Brenman on a close-range attempt in the 50th minute that nearly slipped through the keeper's five-hole. Hough broke through in the 65th minute, leaning in to head home senior Jenna Rabesa's (Teaticket, MA/Falmouth) long cross from the left flank.

For the game, Wheaton outshot the Engineers, 25-4 while recording three of the game's four corner kicks. Senior keeper Stacey Kronenberg (Belchertown, MA/Belchertown) made one first-half save in earning the win, while classmate Elana Cockburn (Chestnut Hill, MA/Brookline) turned aside two shots in the second stanza. Brenman finished with five saves for MIT.

2007 NEWMAC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Wheaton 2, MIT 0

SCORING                    1st        2nd       Final
MIT (12-6)                    0          0         0
Wheaton (20-0-1)           1          1         2

1st Half: WC- Melida Alvarez (Ashley Furr) 15:18

2nd Half: WC- Emily Hough (Jenna Rabesa) 64:53

Goalie Saves: WC- Stacey Kronenberg (45:00) 1, Elana Cockburn (45:00) 2; MIT- Stephanie Brenman 5

Shots: WC- 25; MIT- 4

Alvarez Nets Winner, Wheaton Advances to Women's Soccer Final with 2-0 Victory Over MIT