Frigid fall temperatures did little to chill a Wednesday showdown between two conference titans. The Emerson women’s soccer team battled the No. 8 MIT Engineers at Rotch Field, their final regular-season home game ahead of next week’s conference playoffs.
Both sides buzzed with energy prior to the opening kick, but MIT’s red-hot offense powered them to a 4-0 victory.
Despite the result, head coach David Suvak said the team found success in some areas, particularly committing to an “organized” defense.
“It wasn’t just about minimizing—it was the way I wanted the team to play in a very organized and structured way, and I thought they did that tonight,” he added.
The Engineers struck first after nearly 12 minutes of intense defense, scoring on a right-side shot at the 11:49 mark. Physicality was a common theme in the first half, with the Engineers committing seven fouls to the Lions’ two. MIT also stifled Emerson’s opportunities to score, as the Lions failed to generate any shots in the opening period.
The Lions’ defense foiled several opportunities early in the second half, blocking an Engineer attempt three minutes in, and deflecting other shots out of the box. But after the Lions gained possession in the backfield, a quick turnover led to a swift MIT crossover and a low-center goal for the visitors at the 53-minute mark, going up 2-0. First-year defender Brady Campbell took the Lions’ first shot a minute later, missing to the right.
Following a brief stalemate, the MIT offense awoke once more less than ten minutes later. After a left-side shot missed high in the 61st minute, another try from the same side proved successful moments later, securing a 3-0 lead for the visitors.
Sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Forman saved four Engineer chances late in the period, but MIT found the back of the net one last time, scoring shortly after a corner kick in the 84th minute. First-year forward Rowan McCrary fired off two more attempts in the final five minutes, hitting the crossbar after a corner kick and missing high left at 88:06. The Engineers attempted one more shot with 40 seconds remaining, but the ball landed in Forman’s hands for her fourth and final save.
The loss brought the Lions to a 6-2-2 NEWMAC record and 8-5-4 overall. The Engineers remain near-perfect through conference play, ending the night with a 9-0-1 NEWMAC record and 16-2-1 overall.
Facing a nationally-ranked opponent, Suvak said the team could have had “better composure” at times.
“I’m saying that because we have heavy pressure on us, and [when] we get the ball, we’re launching it, and we’re putting it right back to them, which sometimes is necessary,” he added. “But other times, I thought that if we were more composed, we could have played our way out.”
Suvak also believed the team needed to match the Engineers’ physicality, needing all 11 players to do so instead of only a few. MIT tallied eight fouls in the contest, while the Lions committed seven.
Among the biggest areas of growth Suvak has noticed are their communication and movement.
“50% of our team is first-years, and we’re actively learning the college game right now, so I think those are areas that we’ve improved in,” he added. “I think we have also improved in creating scoring opportunities in many different ways. And it comes from playmaking, shooting from the top of the box, scrappy balls in there.”
The Lions round out the regular season on Saturday, when they face the Babson College Beavers at 1 p.m.
“I think we’ll play more traditional, the way we play, where we’re going to play possession and try to attack and move the ball through the field,” Suvak said. “I want to polish that up in the next couple days.”
Once the regular season wraps up this weekend, the NEWMAC playoffs begin Nov. 4.
