Last Week's Results

Tuesday, October 20                 Women's Soccer 2, Smith 1

                                                Smith  5, Field Hockey 1

                                                Volleyball 3, Clark 2

Saturday, October 24                Volleyball 3, Eastern Nazarene 0

                                                Volleyball 3, Husson 0

                                                Babson 2, Men's Soccer 1 ( 2 OT)

                                                Rochester 24, Football 17

                                                Springfield 3, Field Hockey 0

                                                Springfield 4, Women's Soccer 0

                                                Men's Crew vs. Quinsigamond Invitational for Novices

                                                Women's Crew vs. Quinsigamond Invitational for Novices

Sunday, October 25                  Crew at Head of the Fish Regatta (Saratoga Springs, NY)

                                                Crew at Head of the Fish Regatta (Saratoga Springs, NY)

Men's Athlete of the Week

Chris Boudreau - Football - Senior - Rensselaer, NY

WPI senior linebacker Chris Boudreau is the WPI men's athlete of the week for the week ending October 25. Boudreau had 11 tackles, eight solo, to pace the WPI defense despite the Engineers dropping a tough Liberty League tilt at Rochester on Saturday 24-17. Boudreau led a defensive effort that allowed the Crimson and Gray to get back into the game after facing a 24-10 deficit. The senior co-captain has put together an impressive campaign in 2009, recording 42 tackles (26 solo) including five pass breakups and a forced fumble.

Women's Athlete of the Week

Belinda Nwagbara - Volleyball - Freshman - Santa Rosa, CA

WPI freshman volleyball player Belinda Nwagbara is the WPI women's athlete of the week for the week ending October 25. Nwagbara totaled 29 kills and eight blocks during a 3-0 week for the Engineers.  In a key 3-2 NEWMAC road victory at Clark, the freshman smashed a team-best 15 kills and team-high five blocks to help WPI's bid for its first NEWMAC Tournament bid since 2005.  Nwagbara hit at a .286 clip while notching 14 kills and five aces in a tri-match sweep of Eastern Nazarene and Husson.  The Crimson and Gray have now won 20 games this season, the fifth time in program history and the first time since 1998.

This Week's Games

Tuesday, October 27              Babson at Women's Soccer                                   7:00    

                                               Field Hockey at Babson                                            7:00

                                               Volleyball at Springfield                                            7:00

Wednesday, October 28         Men's Soccer at Westfield State                              7:00

Thursday, October 29             Volleyball at Becker                                                  7:00

Saturday, October 31              Cross Country at NEWMAC Championships      11:00am
                                                (at Wellesley)

                                                Wheaton at Volleyball                                          Noon

                                                Men's Soccer at Wheaton                                      Noon

                                                Hobart at Football                                                 1:00

                                                Swimming and Diving at Wheaton with Brandeis   1:00

                                                Women's Soccer in NEWMAC Quarterfinals              TBA     

                                                Field Hockey in NEWMAC Quarterfinals                    TBA

Football (3-4 overall, 0-4 Liberty League)

WPI Football had a difficult week, dropping its fourth straight conference game to open the season with a 24-17 defeat at Rochester.  Mike Swanton (Foxboro, MA) threw a 15-yard TD pass to Cody McGregor (Westfield, MA) and Mitch McClune (Pembroke, MA) ran two yards for a score. Cody Beckel (Jupiter, FL) kicked two PATs and made a 29-yard field goal. Rochester's first scoring drive was helped by a roughing the kicker penalty. The Yellowjackets punted on fourth-and-10 from their own 36, but the Engineers were flagged after running into the punter. The penalty moved the ball to the WPI 49. Five plays later, Rochester put the ball in the end zone for an early 7-0 lead. Swanton directed an 11-play, 53-yard drive on WPI's first series that led to the Beckel field goal with 6:16 left in the quarter. Midway through the second quarter, Swanton hit Scott Brady (Westboro, MA) for 42 yards down to the Rochester 33. Four plays later, he found McGregor in the middle of the end zone. Beckel's PAT put the Engineers ahead, 10-7. Rochester drove 37 yards in 11 plays, tying the game at 10-10 on a field goal with 30 seconds left in the half. Midway through the third quarter, WPI drove from its own 39 to the Rochester 18. The Engineers converted one third down and one fourth down (a 15-yard sprint by McClune down to the UR 19). Swanton's pass over the middle was intercepted at the four and returned 32 yards to the UR 36. That set up the go-ahead touchdown drive. Rochester took the lead for good on a one-yard run with 14:00 to play. After a WPI punt, Rochester drove 86 yards in eight plays for a 24-10 lead. Todd LeClerc (Middletown, MA) had a sack on the drive before Rochester recovered and scored its third TD. The Engineers drew back to within striking distance immediately. Swanton hit three key passes as part of a 10-play, 65-yard TD drive. He found Mohammed Yatim (Shrewsbury, MA) for nine yards, then hit McGregor for 23 yards down to the Rochester 21. On second-and-nine, he hit McGregor again, this time moving the ball to the two. After the defense stopped Aaron Champagne (Fairfield, ME), McClune plunged through left tackle for a TD with 3:15 left. Rochester took a short kickoff at its own 46 and converted a clutch fourth-and-three to seal the win in the final minute. McClune led the Engineers on the ground with 57 yards on 13 carries. Ernie Mello (Wilmington, MA) gained 26 yards. McGregor caught four passes for 66 yards. WPI rushed for 116 yards and passed for 187 for 303 in total offense. Defensively, Chris Boudreau (Rensselaer, NY) had 11 tackles, eight solo. Tom Thackeray (Braintree, MA) had seven tackles. The Crimson and Gray will try to rebound next Saturday October 31st when it hosts Hobart in the annual homecoming game. Kickoff is at 1pm.
 

Men's Soccer (9-4-1 overall, 2-2-1 NEWMAC)

In its only action of the week, Men's Soccer dropped a tough 2-1 double overtime loss Babson to a dramatic 2-1 victory over WPI in NEWMAC men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon.  The win gives the Beavers at least a share of the NEWMAC regular season title and the number one seed in the conference tournament early next month. The deciding goal was scored when a pass across the goal mouth found a Babson forward that took the feed while colliding with the WPI goalkeeper.  The ball continued into the net for the winning tally. WPI had opened the scoring with a goal just seven seconds before halftime. Reserve Keeon Tabrizi (Harvard, MA) notched his first goal of the year when he knocked home a pass by Michael Solano (Corning, NY) following a long throw in by Kevin Ducharme (Bedford, MA). Babson, ranked tenth in this week's initial NCAA New England Division III rankings, rallied from the 1-0 deficit on a goal off of a nifty one-touch pass. Paul Moan (Watertown, MA) made five stops for the Engineers, who received a key clear off the line by Matt Wzorek (Southwick, MA) midway through the second half. On the day, the Beavers enjoyed a 13-8 edge in shots and a 8-6 advantage in corner kicks. WPI (9-4-1, 2-2-1 NEWMAC) is off until Wednesday when they travel to Westfield State for a 7pm matchup versus the Owls.

Women's Soccer (7-10 overall, 3-5 NEWMAC)
WPI was 1-1 during the past week, picking up a road win at Smith on Tuesday before dropping a 4-0 decision at home to Springfield on Saturday afternoon. Against Smith, Sophomore Kristen Garza (Kingston, MA) netted a pair of goals to propel visting WPI to the key 2-1 NEWMAC road win. WPI got on the board early in the 18th minute of play on a goal by Garza. The play assisted by first year Lindsey Grasis (East Brookfield, MA) was set up with a steal by Grasis who passed it to Garza who then dribbled up field and snuck it into the net by Smith's diving goalkeeper. Smith finally got on the board after three missed scoring opportunities right before the end of the half. The Pioneers were able to buckle down on WPI's fast paced offense late into the game. However, in the 75th minute of play, Garza broke free from a double team and headed up field alone for a one on one. The shot went into the left side of the goal narrowly missing the outstretched fingertips of the Smith goalie.  The junior now has a team-best 12 goals this season and 37 in her career. Rebecca Newman (Howell, NJ) made four stops in goal for the Engineers, en route to leveling her season mark at 6-6.  The team returned home on Saturday, but dropped a tough 4-0 match to the Pride. Springfield on the board at 17:57, before adding to its lead at 19:12 for a 2-0 lead. The Pride, ranked sixth in this week's initial NCAA New England Division III regional rankings, extended its advantage to 3-0 at the break with a goal on a long shot at 39:53. Springfield netted the only goal of the second half off of a corner kick midway through the stanza. Newman and Ally Stoyle (Pembroke, MA) split time in between the pipes for WPI.  Newman was credited with three saves in the first half while Stoyle turned away four shots in the second half. Suzanne Najem (Derry, NH) had the best scoring chance for the Crimson and Gray, who were outshot 16-1 on the day.  Springfield took all four of the game's corner kicks. WPI entertains Babson at 7pm on Tuesday in its final match of the regular season.

Field Hockey (10-5 overall, 4-3 NEWMAC)

Field Hockey put together a 1-1 week last week, winning its Senior Night game on Tuesday 5-1 over Smith before dropping a 3-0 decision to Springfield on Saturday. Senior Jackie McDonough (Winchester, MA) highlighted Senior Night by registering a goal and an assist to lift host WPI to the win over Smith. Sasha Marokhovsky (Upton, MA) opened the scoring for WPI in the 11th minute when  she tucked home a rebound for her second goal of the year. Ten minutes later, Megan Read (Wrentham, MA) knocked home a Kelly Johnson (Buxton, ME) rocket that hit off the post to put the Engineers up 2-0 at the half. WPI extended its lead to 3-0 when Meghan Linskey (Bridgewater, MA) took a pass from McDonough and knocked it past the Smith goalie in the 43rd minute. McDonough then got into the scoring act when her laser tipped of a defender and into the net for her third goal of the season and seventh of her career. Meghan Farrell (Phillipston, MA) closed out the  WPI scoring in the 63rd minute when she put away a rebound for her first career marker. Allie Griffin (Billerica, MA) and Elizabeth Ray (Simsbury, CT) split halves in goal for WPI.  Griffin made one save while Ray recorded three stops. The contest marked the final regular season home game for seniors McDonough, Griffin, Ray, Johnson, who had her team-best seventh defensive save, and Meganne Chiasson (North Andover, MA), as well as manager, Amanda Martori (Haverhill, MA). On Saturday, Springfield netted a goal in the opening two minutes and never looked back as it blanked WPI, 3-0, in a crucial NEWMAC contest. WPI drops to 10-5, 4-3 in conference play and joins the Springfield in the conference standings log jam. Springfield wasted no time scoring the first goal of the game as it struck just 1:50 in the contest. On the game's first penalty corner, Griffin made an initial save on a shot on the doorstep. However, the rebound was collected by Springfield and slid a shot past Griffin between the legs for what would prove to be the game winner. Springfield continued to put pressure on the WPI defense as it spent nearly the rest of the half peppering the Engineers with shots. The Pride's persistence paid off as it added a second goal with 10 seconds remaining in the opening 35 minutes. At the 58:11 mark, Springfield tacked on its third goal of the game. Springfield preserved the shutout by snuffing out a one-on-one chance by Farrell in the final 10 minutes of the game. Griffin suffered the loss as she allowed a pair of goals in the opening frame and made 10 stops. Ray played the final 35 minutes for the Engineers, allowing one goal and making one save. With seedings for the upcoming conference tournament still to be sorted out, the final week of conference play will prove to be critical. Entering this upcoming week's play WPI, Springfield, MIT, and Babson are all tied for third place with a 4-3 record in conference play. The Engineers take the field again for a 7:00 tilt at Babson.

 
Volleyball (20-6 overall, 2-5 NEWMAC)

Volleyball had a 3-0 week last week, defeating Clark in a NEWMAC matchup on Tuesday before sweeping a non-conference tri-match on Saturday over Husson and Eastern Nazarene. The Engineers rallied to take games four and five and claim its second straight victory over host Clark with a 3-2 win on Tuesday to start off the productive week. WPI, who knocked off the Clark in the championship match of the Worcester City Volleyball tournament earlier this season, has now won four of the last five meetings with the Cougars. Clark jumped out to an early lead, taking the first game 25-19. The Engineers rebounded to take game two 25-22, before the Cougars regained momentum and grabbed game three, 25-14. Things seemed to be going in Clark's favor until WPI hit .273 in game four to take an easy 25-15 win, forcing the decisive game five. The Engineers raced out to an early lead in the final frame and never looked back, taking it 15-9. WPI was paced by Becca Holmberg (Madison, CT), who turned in a 16-kill, 23-dig performance. She was aided by freshmen Bailey Sarber's (Westerly, RI) 10 kills and 17 digs and Belinda Nwagbara's (Santa Rosa, CA) 15 kills. Nwagbara was also the catalyst in WPI's sweep of Eastern Nazarene and Husson on Saturday, recording a team-high 14 kills over two matches to help the WPI women's volleyball team to a pair of wins at Eastern Nazarene. The Engineers defeated the hosts in the opener 3-0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-11) before taking another 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-7) sweep over Husson. The Engineers now stand at 20-6 on the season with just three matches left prior to conference tournament play. The wins mark only the fifth time in program history that the team has reached the 20-win plateau. The 1998 team won 21 matches. WPI improved its record to 18-1 in non-conference action in 2009. In the opening match versus Eastern Nazarene, Nwagbara paved the way with a match-best eight kills. Becca Mattern (Vernon, CT) had six kills in only seven chances for an impressive .857 attack percentage. Elyssa Dorenfeld (Reading, MA) also had six kills, while Becca Holmberg (Madison, CT) recorded five. Holmberg and Joan Porambo (Jim Thorpe, PA) led the WPI effort with 15 digs each while Alex Rangel (Weston, FL) had 26 assists. The Crimson and Gray blasted five service aces in the win. The Engineers kept their momentum going in the later match, also defeating Husson 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-16). WPI was successful due in large part to its serve, as the team recorded an eye-popping 14 service aces including five from Holmberg and four from Nwagbara. Bailey Sarber (Westerly, RI) led WPI's attack, recording eight kills in the win, while Nwagbara had six and Holmberg had five. Holmberg also led the team with eight digs, while Kim Woodward (Clifton Park, NY) set the table with 19 assists. WPI returns to the court on Tuesday when they will travel to Springfield to take on the pride in a NEWMAC contest at 7pm.

 
Men's and Women's Cross Country

The Engineers were off this weekend before competing in the NEWMAC Championships on Saturday, October 31st.  The championships, hosted by Wellesley, will be held at Franklin Park.

Men's Crew

Men's Crew wrapped up its fall season this past weekend, competing at the Quinsigamond Novice Challenge on Saturday afternoon and the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, NY on Sunday.  At the Novice Challenge, The WPI A team placed second behind cross-city rival Holy Cross and ahead of 16 other opponents including UNH, URI, Wesleyan and Tufts to take home the silver medal. The Crusaders finished the course a full minute ahead of the rest of the field. The team comprised of Nate Efron (Fairport, NY), Steve Berselli (Westfield, MA), Alec Sirocki (Scarborough, ME), Burak Birand (Istanbul, Turkey), Paul Ciolek (South Hadley, MA), Daniel Nahill (Amherst, NH), Thomas Hunter (Maynard, MA), Andrew Cunningham (Glastonbury, CT) and coxswain Renee Lanza (Waterford, CT) crossed the finish line in 14:51.2 to take second in the race. Meanwhile, WPI's B entry of James Fleming (Longmeadow, MA), Bryan Karsky (Farmington, CT), Adam Hoyt (Rochester, NY), Ray Gasper (Omaha, NE), Samir Zutshi (Bangalore, India), Willy Ramos (Spring, TX), Dan Roberge (Chicopee, MA), Frederick Hunter (Maynard, MA) and coxswain Chloe Emery (Sandwich, MA) was close behind in fourth place with a time of 15:27.6. Wesleyan's A boat was third. The WPI C team of Mason Andruskiewicz (Preston, CT), Gregory Overton, Ke Yao (Jiuan, China), Xuanya Zhang (Chengdu, China), Jon Cline (Lisbon, CT), Tim Sharood (Kennebunk, ME), Ryan Kimmel (San Diego, CA), Brian Karolicki (Cheshire, CT) and coxswain Shane Moore (Kilavea, HI) was 13th, reaching the finish line in 16:26.7. WPI's effort at the Head of the Fish on Sunday was keyed by a win from the varsity four. The boat of Jeff Onderdonk (Colchester, CT), Arthur Gager (Kennebunk, ME), Sebastian Cohn (Orinda, CA) and coxswain Brenna Colleary (Southboro, MA) crossed the line first in 12:09.9, besting regional power Williams A by over 28 seconds. Williams' B boat was third and Colgate fourth. The second varsity four of Chris Carrigan (Northboro, MA), Phillip Kellermeier (Berlin, Germany), Jack Sternal (Westfield, NJ), Josh Wimble (Albans, VT), and coxswain Jillian Kloc (Elma, NY) finished fifth in 12:50.0. Senior co-captains Tobin McGee (Rye, NY) and Arthur Gager (Kennebunk, ME) each competed in the singles, with McGee placing fourth in 14:12.5, while Gager finished sixth in 15:18.4. The Engineers had two entries in the mixed eight, with WPI's A boat topping the field for a first-place finish in 11:33.0. WPI's B boat ended its run in third place, posting a time of 12:29.1. Men's Crew will be back in action in April for another exciting spring season of racing.

Women's Crew
Women's Crew closed out its fall season this past weekend, competing at the Quinsigamond Novice Challenge on Saturday afternoon and the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, NY on Sunday. The WPI A team crossed the line in 17:33.3, good enough to finsh ahead of 13 boats for fourth place at the Quinsigamond Novice Challenge on Saturday afternoon. Trinity's A boat was the race winner, finishing in 16:32.1. UNH and UConn were second and third, respectively. The Engineers' boat of Sarah Dinwoodie (East Greenwich, RI), Caitlin Heindl (Bow, NH), Amy Loomis (Mahtomedi, MN), Katy Tongue (Westport, MA), Chelsea Miller (Zurich, Switzerland), Martha Miller (Fort Collins, CO), Danielle Morabito (Monroe, CT), Janneth Velazquez (Riverside, CA) and coxswain Hannah Pacheco (Garnder, MA) finished ahead of some tough local competition, including entries from Worcester rivals Clark and Holy Cross. Women's Crew also turned in strong performances at the Head of the Fish Regatta on Sunday. The Engineers' varsity four led the way, as the boat of Vicky Stutz (Trumbull, CT), Suzanna Kelley (Attleboro, MA), Mary Hesler (Glastonbury, CT) and Colyer Sigety (Tampa, FL) and coxswain Jessica DiToro (Stowe, VT) raced to a fifth place finish in 14:34.4. Stutz also competed in the singles, finishing her race in 16:48.5 for a sixth-place result. WPI's novice four had the highest finish for the Crimson and Gray on the day, as Hannah Pacheco (Gardner, MA), Sarah Dinwoodie (East Greenwich, RI), Caitlin Heindl (Bow, NH), Amy Loomis (Mahtomedi, MN) and Katy Tongue (Westport, MA) took fourth place in 15:21.8. Women's Crew will take to the water again in April for another exciting season of racing.

Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving

Both men's and women's swimming and diving were off but will be in action this coming weekend. Both squads will be competing in a tri-meet with Brandeis and Wheaton at Wheaton on Saturday, October 31st.