CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Lesley University women's soccer team has punched their ticket to the New England Collegiate Conference Championship match for the eighth consecutive season following tonight's Semifinal win over fourth-seeded Becker College at Edward Field. The Lynx scored two goals in the opening half before exploding for five goals in the second to stump the Hawks, 7-0.
The Lynx will meet Elms College in the finals for the sixth time in conference history and the third time in as many seasons. The second-seeded Blazers posted a 2-0 win over third-seed Southern Vermont College tonight in the Semifinals matchup in Chicopee, Mass.
Becker, who qualified for the NECC Tournament for the eighth straight season, finishes 2015 with a 13-6 record. Lesley improves to 15-5-0 on the season and now holds a 5-0-0 mark against the Hawks in NECC Tournament play.
After a flurry of missed opportunities early in the first, Lesley opened the scoring when junior Lindsey Box (Valencia, Calif.) saw her left-footed free kick from 20 yards rocket into the top left corner in the 34th minute to give the Lynx a 1-0 lead.
The hosts would push their advantage to 2-0 nine minutes later as freshman Jordan Mitchell (Sachse, Texas) buried a cross from sophomore Karlie Rubin (San Diego, Calif.). Rubin dribbled the ball into the box on the left side before sliding a pass to a streaking Mitchell in the middle of the box who one-timed a shot from ten yards out for her tenth tally of the season.
After the break, Lesley senior Hayley Wirth (Escondido, Calif.) put the hosts up by three when she headed home a corner kick from freshman Kai Morehead (Oxnard, Calif.) at 57:25.
Becker's best chance of the night came on the heels of Wirth's marker when sophomore Meghan Bealka (Freetown, Mass.) gathered a long throw-in and fired a shot from 18 yards, but her drive clanked off the crossbar in the 60th minute.
The Lynx answered that opportunity and ran away with the match as they went on to score four goals in nine minutes. Freshman Samantha Bessey (Algonquin, Ill.) started the barrage with back-to-back tallies at 71:28 and 72:30, respectively, before Morehead found the back of the net at 74:23 to give the Lynx a 6-0 lead.
Sophomore Sarah Pochobradsky (Rotterdam, N.Y.) capped the scoring for the Lynx at 80:20 with her fifth of the season when she knocked in a bouncing ball off a Morehead corner kick.
Lesley outshot their guests by a 20-8 margin and held a 12-0 advantage on opportunities from the corner.
Sophomore keeper Lilly Donovan (Newburyport, Mass.) made three stops and earned the win to improve to 9-1-0 on the year while her counterpart, Jordyn Martel (Chicopee, Mass.), also made three stops in the loss.
Saturday's Finals match will kick-off from Edward Field at 1:00p and will be followed by the presentation of the NECC Championship trophy and the announcement of the All-Tournament team.