BOSTON, Mass. – Needing a win or a tie to secure a berth in the 2009 The Commonwealth Coast Conference Women's Soccer Tournament, the Wentworth women's soccer team got two goals from freshman forward Stephanie Crockett (Bedford, Mass.) as the Leopards defeated Curry, 3-1, in a TCCC contest played at Sweeney Field.
Crockett got things going for Wentworth when she converted a pass from classmate Deborah Lesky (Newton, Mass.) and pit home a shot to the right side at the 6:24 mark. The Colonels would tie the game at 1-all nearly six and a half minutes later when sophomore forward Suzanne Jensen (Framingham, Mass.) took a shot that was initially saved by Leopard sophomore Katherine Matthews (Northborough, Mass.), but slipped out of her grasp which allowed junior forward Samanath Velezis (Waterbury, Conn.) to put the rebound home.
Crockett would give Wentworth a 2-1 lead with her team-leading 10th marker of the season when she took a direct kick from 32 yards out and found the upper left corner at 22:33. The goal was her sixth game-winning goal of the season which ties a school record. Senior forward Madison Watson (Overland Park, Kan.), playing in her final game at Sweeney Field, rounded out the scoring with a goal that came off the rebound of a sophomore midfielder Jess Cutler (Scituate, Mass.) shot with 4:30 remaining in the first half.
Matthews made five saves for the Leopards while sophomore Julia Tinetti (New Haven, Conn.) turned back seven shots. Wentworth held a 16-10 advantage in shots.
The win, the Leopards, third in a row, improves their record to 8-10-0 and closes out league play with a 7-6-0 mark. Curry, which needed a win to earn a playoff berth, saw its winless streak extend to four (0-3-1) and ends the season with a 9-6-3 (5-6-2) record.
Wentworth's 7-6 conference record ties Nichols for seventh place. By way of a 4-1 win at Nichols on Sept. 21, the Leopards earn the number seven seed for TCCC Tournament, which begins on Saturday (Oct. 31). Wentworth will travel to second-seeded University of New England (14-2, 11-2) for a 1:00 contest. On Oct. 17 of this year, the Nor'Easters squeaked out a 1-0 win. This will be the 14th meeting between the two schools with the series even at 6-6-1. UNE is 2-0-1 in the last three meetings and has outscored the Leopards by a 9-1 margin in those three games. The two teams met in the opening round of the 2004 and 2005 tournament with the Leopards winning 1-0 and 6-0, respectively. Both of those games were played at Wentworth.
