Lacrosse Finishes Week with Three Home Victories
Helen Lin--The Tech
Katherine Merrilees '97 dodges a Wheaton College defender during Saturday's lacrosse game.
By Ann Torres
Team Member
Last week the women's lacrosse team tallied three victories at home after battling ColbySawyer College, Babson College, and Wheaton College.
On Tuesday evening MIT defeated ColbySawyer 146. Tormented by the piercing winds and the numbing temperatures, the MIT team fought hard to gain control of the game. Although ColbySawyer scored first, MIT's offense was quick to respond.
Tri-captain Ann Torres '96 began the assault by beating her defender one-on-one and scoring twice. Next Katherine Merrilees '97, last year's goalie converted to attack, also beat her defender and capitalized with a goal.
Veteran Merra Saini '95 dodged her way through multiple defenders to score the fourth goal for the Engineers. To close the half defender Meg Golden '97 came down on attack and scored off a free position. After the first half the score was 53, in favor of MIT.
With the wind at their backs, the Engineers had little trouble exerting their offensive dominance over ColbySawyer in the second half. MIT scored 9 more goals while ColbySaywer was held to only 3. In this half, Merrilees scored the first goal and added two more before the end of the game. Veteran tri-captain Carla Oshiro '95 scored next on an assist by Surekha Vajjhala '96. Oshiro also scored the last two goals of the game. Torres scored twice and Saini scored again in the second half.
The defense, lead by tri-captain Jen Chank '95 and Catherine Mangion '95, held off the Colby-Sawyer attack, contributing to the 146 victory. These veterans were helped by Wendy Silverberg '96, Emily Brown '96, and Marilyn Vogel '98, who all played excellent defense. Jo Kussmaul '95, playing in goal after a few years off, had a great game with 8 saves.
MIT denies Babson in overtime
On Thursday MIT defeated Babson College in overtime to record its first conference win of the season. The contest was a hardfought and intense game which ended with MIT victorious after 66 minutes of exhausting play.
Although Babson started the first half strong, MIT rose to the occasion and began to answer Babson's run and gun style. Defenders Golden, Brown, and Chank concentrated on slowing down the play with aggressive pressure at both midfield and around the cage.
Vajjhala scored the first goal for the Engineers by powering through a double team. Merriles then scored on a free position to spark MIT hopes. The offense ignited, with everyone getting involved in the scoring effort. Saini scored two goals off a pass from Vajjhala and a pass from Merrilees after cutting to get free in front of the goal.
Brown scored three goals in the first half. The first was scored on a break away, the next on a free position and the final one off an assist from Torres. Vajjhala assisted Merrilees for her second goal of the half.
Tied at 88 at the beginning of the second half, MIT dropped a couple of goals to Babson. Close to the end of the half, MIT turned on the heat by scoring two unanswered goals to tie the game. Vajjhala scored the first goal for the Beavers in the second half.
Her goal was followed by two goals by Torres and another goal by Merrilees on a free position. The Engineers finished up the half with two goals from Saini and another goal from Torres. MIT's success this half was due to the concentration of the team on possession. Mangion and Saini led the team in this respect by consistently beating Babson to the ground balls and controlling the draws. At the end of regulation time the score was tied at 1515.
In overtime, MIT played with confidence and poise to bring home a victory. In a game which had become very intense and physical, MIT concentrated on playing its own game. After taking a check to the head, Torres capitalized on a Babson ejection to take the ball to goal for a score.
Brown then sealed Babson's fate by scoring the final goal of the contest. A clutch play by Oshiro kept the ball away from Babson to deny them any chance of trying to even up the game. The defense helped Kussmaul shutout Babson in overtime by playing tough denial defense and beating their opponents to the ball. At the final whistle MIT had delivered Babson a 1715 defeat.
MIT comes back to win over Wheaton
On Saturday afternoon MIT fought back to win over Wheaton by a score of 87. This game was MIT's second conference win this season.
The first half was dominated by the Wheaton, which scored five goals. The only MIT goal of the half came from Vajjhala who worked hard to score off a oneonone from behind goal.
The first goal of the second half was also scored by Vajjhala, followed by one from Torres. Wheaton answered by scoring a quick goal off the draw. However, MIT continued to battle back and gain momentum with scores from Merrilees and Oshiro. Aggressive defense by Chank, Silverberg, Brown, Golden, Merrilees, and Vogel forced Wheaton turnovers and capitalized on interceptions. MIT was able to tie the game when Vajjhala connected with Vogel who scored off a give-and-go in front of the net.
MIT was propelled into the lead by a goal from Saini off a free position. With five minutes left on the clock Vajjhala challenged the defense once more to score on a one-on-one from behind the cage. Wheaton was able to score only one more time before the end of the game - an 87 MIT victory.
This New England Women's Eight Conference game improved the team's record to 21
in the conference and 31 overall. The team plays again today against Elms College, at
7 p.m. on turf field.
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