Sports Shorts
Men’s Cross Country Sixth at New England Regional Championship
The MIT men’s cross country team took sixth place at the NCAA Division III New England Championship, hosted by the University of Southern Maine on Saturday. NEWMAC Runner of the Year, Hemagiri Arumugam ’10, was the top overall finisher for the Cardinal and Grey, who matched the program’s best finish at the meet since 2003, with 163 total points.
Arumugam navigated the eight-kilometer Championship course in 25:59.7, to place 20th overall. Paul Welle came through the chute directly behind him in 26:03.8. Gihan S. Amarasiriwardena 11 turned in a time of 26:22.2 to take 37th. Daniel E. Harper. 12 crossed the finish in 26:26.6, good for 41st overall. William S. Phipps 10 (26:28.0) rounded out the scoring for Tech, coming through in the 44th position.
—Greg McKeever, DAPER Staff
Rowan Eliminates Women’s Soccer, 3-0 in NCAA First Round
Rowan University defeated MIT 3-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Playoffs.
Rowan opened the scoring in the 28th minute on a penalty kick, then scored again three minutes later for a 2-0 lead. Rowan would add one more goal in the second half on a breakaway, for a final score 3-0.
The Engineers had several chances to score, including Kathryn A. Pesce ’10’s shot off the crossbar and Alisha D. Lussiez ’12 miss in the box in the 32nd minute, but they were unable to convert.
“We’ve been playing big games for two weeks now,” MIT coach Martin Desmarais said. “We came up strong in each of those games.” MIT finishes its season at 12-6-2.
—Paul Blascovich, DAPER Staff
Field Hockey Falls to Tufts, 5-1, in NCAA Second Round
The MIT field hockey team lost to nationally-ranked number four Tufts University in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday, bringing to an end the Engineers’ record-breaking 2009 campaign. Tech’s season comes to a close at 18-5.
Tufts came out strong from the outset, with Michelle Kelly scoring twice in the game’s first three and a half minutes. Kameron L. Klauber ’12 had an opportunity to cut into the lead, following a penalty corner, but was denied by the Tufts goalie. With just under five minutes to go in the frame, Kelly broke through again to complete her hat trick and send the game into the break at 3-0.
Just under two minutes into the second period, Tufts scored again. Molly E. McShane ’13 did finally find the back of the net with less than 12 minutes remaining on an assist by Kimberly A. Barker ’13. A final goal with 2:41 remaining would give Tufts its final 5-1 margin.
NEWMAC All-Conference goalkeeper Keri A. Dixon ’11 made eight saves in the loss.
MIT set new program records for overall wins (18), consecutive wins (nine) and goals scored (79) in 2009 while capturing the program’s first ever NEWMAC Championship.
—Greg McKeever, DAPER Staff