Women's Soccer (15-4-2, 7-1-1) Post 1-0-1 Mark, Wins Shootout in Tournament Opener

The Wheaton College women's soccer team, which is ranked fifth in New England by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), went 1-0-1 last week, notching a 1-0 win in its regular season finale at Wellesley College on Tuesday before knotting Mount Holyoke College, 1-1 on Saturday in the first round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament and advancing thanks to a 4-1 victory in a penalty-kick shootout.

With the win over Wellesley, the Lyons earned a share of their 10th consecutive regular season title. After hosting a conference tournament first-round game for the 14th straight season, Wheaton advanced to the semifinals for the 14th year in a row. As the second seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, the Lyons will take on number-six Clark University on Saturday in a 5:00 p.m. semifinal at Springfield College, the first institution other than Wheaton to host the semifinals and final since 1999. The Blue and White seeks its third straight NEWMAC Tournament title, which would give it a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive season.

Sophomore Melida Alvarez (Saugus, MA/Buckingham Browne & Nichols) scored 1:02 into overtime for the only goal of the game to send the Lyons past host Wellesley. Freshman Lindsay Leddy (Warwick, RI/Wheeler School) made four saves, as Wheaton outshot the Blue, 27-12.

Against seventh-seeded Mount Holyoke, the Blue and White extended its series unbeaten streak to 17 games before winning a penalty-kick shootout in order to advance to the semifinals. Alvarez converted junior Rosie Levy's (Torrance, CA/Chadwick School) helper for a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute, but the visitors knotted the contest in the 52nd minute. Despite holding advantages of 33-9 in shots and 18-4 in corner kicks, Wheaton was held off the board for the remainder of the day, with Leddy making two saves. During the shootout, four Blue and White's defenders scored, with junior Lyndsey McManus (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) and sophomores Lauren Caney (West Springfield, MA/Westfield) and Alessia Viscomi (Newton, MA/Newton North) making it 3-1 before sophomore Christina Bertrand (Agawam, MA/Cathedral) buried a kick to clinch the shootout win.

Alvarez is tied for seventh in program history in goals (36) and sits eighth in points (79), while sophomore Emily Hough (Norwich, VT/Hanover) is 10th in each points (77) and goals (27). Hough's 11 assists this year leave her one shy of the program's single-season top 10, and her 37 points are three short of the top 10. In her past 14 contests, Hough played a role in 21 of Wheaton's 33 goals, scoring 10 times and handing out 11 assists. Leddy is fifth in shutouts (9) and tied for ninth in wins (12).