McMackin evens score early but Seahawks fall on road in opener

WORCESTER, Mass. - Emily Doherty (Shrewsbury, Mass.) notched a pair of goals and added an assist en route to reaching the 50 career point milestone as the WPI women's soccer team opened the 2015 season with a 3-1 victory over visiting Salve Regina on Tuesday evening.

Doherty opened the scoring just 8:23 in when she took a long pass from Megan Hanshaw (Simsbury, Conn.) in the middle of the field and split the defense, beating the goalie to the left side for her 20th career goal. The Seahawks leveled the game just over 10 minutes later when Abby McMackin (Walpole, Mass.) collected a cross from Francesca Galeazzi (Lynn, Mass.) in the box, turned, and blasted a shot toward the left at 18:28.

Doherty hit the 50 point mark just after 30 minutes in when she headed a short cross by Susannah Gray (York, Maine) into the back of the net for what proved to be the game-winner. After Salve continued to battle to tie the game in the second half, the Crimson and Gray put the game out of reach early in the 73rd minute when Lizzie Rooney (Harvard, Mass.) received a cross from Doherty from the right wing and chipped it over the goal for her first career marker.

For the game, WPI attempted 32 of the 39 shots and held a 10-3 edge in corner kicks. SRU goalkeeper Carly Pala (Milford, Conn.) was outstanding in her collegiate debut. The freshman made 17 stops, including 10 in the first half. Junior Abbey Teliska (LaGrangeville, N.Y.) notched three saves in net for WPI while collecting her ninth career victory.

WPI closes out a two-game homestand on Thursday hosting Suffolk at 7 p.m. Salve Regina is also back in action at 7 p.m. on Thursday, traveling to UMass Dartmouth.