29
Soccer
MARTIN DESMARAIS ELLIQUAM FACEA
KARENNA GROFF
MIT, which reached its highest national ranking in program
history at No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches Division III poll in
2019, won its third straight NEWMAC Championship and fifth in
program history after defeating rival WPI, 3-0, on Roberts Field.
For her efforts throughout the tournament, senior captain and
All-American Emily Berzolla was named as the Most Outstanding
Player. (FULL STORY)
As a team, the Engineers
were crowned NCAA Division
III women’s soccer national
statistical champions in three
categories as MIT led the country
in goals against average (.162),
save percentage (.941) and
shutout percentage (.833). In
addition, first-year goalkeeper Ava
Gillikin individually led the nation
in goals against average (.124)
and save percentage (.959).
MIT hosted the NCAA Tournament on Roberts Field for the second time in three
seasons and won its first round game over Johnson & Wales University (RI) by
a 3-0 margin. Montana Reilly led the offense for the Engineers with two goals
and an assist in the victory. (FULL STORY)
Berzolla and Maya Nielan were named All-Americans by the United Soccer Coaches
Association and D3Soccer.com. In addition, the duo earned Scholar All-America
accolades, CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors and were also named
as the NEWMAC’s Athlete of the Year and the Defensive Athlete of the Year,
respectively. (FULL STORY)
“Being a student-athlete is one of my favorite
things about being at MIT. I’ve never been on
a team that I can relate to more as much as I
can relate to my teammates on the women’s
soccer team at MIT. We talk about recursion
in our problem sets, about what happened in
our favorite TV shows, our weekend plans,
our relationships and most importantly, our
common desire to be the best team on and
off the field. There is no way I would have
made it through these past four years without
my teammates.” - Karenna Groff ‘22
“I chose to attend MIT because it was the
school that provided me the opportunity to
do everything I wanted in college. I wanted
to study STEM, I wanted to continue playing
soccer on a successful team, I wanted to join
a sorority, and I wanted to be surrounded
by people who would help me achieve these
goals. After I came for CPW, I realized MIT
was the only school that could help me
achieve these goals and I decided to
attend.” - Maya Nielan ‘21
Martin Desmarais, a five-time NEWMAC Coach of the Year honoree and two-time United Soccer
Coaches New England Regional Coach of the Year, has coached the MIT women’s soccer team for
the past 13 seasons. Over that time, he has guided the Engineers to five NEWMAC Championship
titles, eight consecutive regular season crowns and nine appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
He is the all-time leader in wins with a record of 173-50-33 for a .833 win percentage.(FULL BIO)
At the conclusion of the season, Berzolla
was named as a top-30 finalist for the NCAA
Woman of the Year Award becoming the
fourth student-athlete in Institute history to
accomplish this feat. (FULL STORY)
My favorite experience as a member of the soccer team was beating Williams on its home field my junior season. I have seen the team
grow from a successful program to an even more successful program that is recognized at the national level throughout my time as an
athlete here. Beating Williams, a frequent national champion, on its home turf was the best part of my junior season. - Eva Anderson ‘21
MAYA NIELAN
AVA GILLIKIN