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

NORTON, MA- The top-seeded Wheaton College women's soccer team posted five goals and its 13th shutout of the fall as the Lyons blanked eighth seed Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 5-0 in the first round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament Saturday at Mirrione Stadium.

Wheaton will host next weekend's semifinal and final rounds for the eighth consecutive season, as the Lyons are in search of their seventh tournament title in the last eight seasons. The Blue and White hosts fourth seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Saturday's first semifinal at 10:30 a.m., while number three Babson College takes on seventh-seeded Wellesley College at 1:30 p.m. Sunday's title game is slated for 1:00 p.m.

Wheaton, which is ranked seventh nationally and second in New England by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), picked up its 16th straight win while extending its unbeaten streak to 20 and improving to 19-0-1. The Lyons also stretched their league unbeaten streak to 86 games. WPI ends its fall at 7-11.

Freshman Melida Alvarez (Saugus, MA/Buckingham Browne & Nichols) tallied Wheaton's first two goals during an 8:52 span and nearly had a hat trick as another of her shots smacked off the left post. Increasing her season goal total to 20, Alvarez scored the game-winner from classmate Emily Hough (Norwich, VT/Hanover) at 14:36 and later converted a feed from senior Jenna Rabesa (Teaticket, MA/Falmouth) on a sliding kick at 23:28.

Following the halftime intermission, the hosts rattled off three tallies in 8:34 to close out the scoring. Hough finished off a shot from freshman Barrie Lindsay (Ipswich, MA/Waring School) that Engineer freshman keeper Abaigeal Caras (Essex, CT/Williams School) was able to get a piece of in the 55th minute. Sophomore Lyndsey McManus (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) had a successful penalty kick to make it 4-0 just shy of the 60-minute mark, while senior Erin Davis (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow) found junior Jessica Bramucci (Ludlow, MA/Wilbraham and Monson Academy) on a free kick just over three minutes later.

Senior goalies Elana Cockburn (Chestnut Hill, MA/Brookline) and Stacey Kronenberg (Belchertown, MA/Belchertown) split halves in uncontested action, with Cockburn earning the win, while WPI senior Nicole DeCampo (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham) took the loss with eight first-half saves. Caras finished with four in the second half, as Wheaton took all 39 of the game's shots and all 13 corner kicks.

2007 NEWMAC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Wheaton 5, WPI 0

SCORING                             1st          2nd         Final
WPI (7-11)                             0              0             0
Wheaton (19-0-1)                 2              3              5

1st Half: WC- Melida Alvarez (Emily Hough) 14:36, Alvarez (Jenna Rabesa) 23:28

2nd Half: WC- Hough (Barrie Lindsay) 54:25, Lyndsey McManus (penalty kick) 59:58, Jessica Bramucci (Erin Davis) 62:59

Goalie Saves: WC- Elana Cockburn (45:00) 0, Stacey Kronenberg (45:00) 0; WPI- Nicole DeCampo (45:00) 8, Abaigeal Caras (45:00) 4

Shots: WC- 39; WPI- 0

Lyons Advance to Semifinal with 5-0 Shutout Over WPI, Set to Host Final Four