Simmons Soccer was shut out by the MIT Engineers on Saturday's season opener, 2-0, at Roberts Field. The Engineers improved to 2-0-0 on the young season, while the Sharks dropped their first contest of 2010. Sharks sophomore keeper Ashley Donaghey (Framingham, Mass.) made nine saves over 90 minutes in the loss.

MIT's Alisha Lussiez opened the scoring in the eleventh minute, taking a lead pass from Emily Kuo and getting in behind the Simmons defense before slotting the ball home for her first tally of the season.

The hosts struck again on the stroke of halftime, and again it was Lussiez getting in behind the Simmons backline. The junior took a pass over the top from substitute Michaelann Rodriguez to score.

The Sharks controlled the game from the start until Lussiez' first goal swung the momentum of the game in the favor of the Engineers. MIT capitalized on it, dominating play for much of the second half.

A stout defense the Sharks to just two shots all afternoon. MIT fired nineteen shots, eleven of them at Donaghey. Donaghey played well for Simmons, making nine saves, but was constantly bombarded by offensive pressure from the Engineers.  Senior Brooke MacKenzie (Mansfield, Mass.) fired three shots for Simmons, one of them on goal.

Simmons will face Plymouth State on the road Tuesday with a 6:00pm start time. MIT will face its first road contest on Wednesday evening when they travel to Worcester State College.