Women’s lacrosse wins its 1st NEWMAC title
Christine Jiang ’16 is named ‘most outstanding player’ of this year’s tournament
SONIA SCHOTT
The MIT women’s lacrosse team clinched their first-ever New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship this weekend with a come-from-behind 11-10 victory over Springfield. MIT battled back from a 10-5 deficit to earn a direct entry to the NCAA playoffs where they will face Regis on Saturday, May 9.
Christine Jiang ’16 was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. Kira Schott ’16 was instrumental in the victory, scoring twice and setting up two others in the finals. Rookie of the Year Emily Young ’18 scored a hattrick while fellow freshman Evan Boal ’18 notched up 4 saves.
En route to becoming NEWMAC Champions, MIT defeated archrivals Babson for the first time since 2003 as they closed out the regular season with a record of 14-2. Schott scored five times and racked up three assists as the Engineers finally beat Babson, thereby halting a 17-game losing streak.
Having overcome Springfield for the first time in program history, the team is looking forward to the challenge of competing in the NCAA playoffs. As Jiang ’16, who has been in the team for the past three years, put it: “There’s something special about this year’s team — there is an in-game chemistry, and somehow, we always end up on the same page without having to say anything to each other. Every team in the NCAA tournament is incredibly talented, so we definitely expect an exciting challenge. But, our team is playing our best lacrosse right now and anything can happen.”