BOSTON, Mass. (October 21, 2026) – Freshman Asha Comiso struck for three goals within the final 15-minutes of the first half to send Worcester Polytechnic Institute to a 3-0 victory over Emerson College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's soccer matchup at Rotch Field tonight.
Comiso netted her first collegiate hat trick within the final third of the opening half and within moments of entering the match to provide all the offense for WPI. Juniors Ayla Verheul and Maya Mussel did the rest in goal for the Engineers with the combined shutout. Verheul made four saves over the first 79:13, before Mussel finished off the clean sheet without seeing a shot on target in the final ten minutes.
Junior Hailey Forman saw her scoreless streak in the Emerson goal surpass 300-minutes before WPI got on the scoreboard and finished with eight saves.
Comiso, who entered the match in the 32nd minute, made an immediate impact on the match. She was taken down in the upper left corner of the penalty area just a half minute later and then converted the ensuing penalty to break the scoreless match.
Comiso broke the game open before halftime, striking twice in the last 2:14 of the stanza to complete her hat trick before the intermission. She headed in a rebound off the saved initial try by junior Caetlyn Embree with 2:14 remaining in the half. Comiso finished off her first collegiate hat trick when she headed in a corner kick by freshman Sarah Frye at the far post with just 35-seconds to play in the first half and complete her hat trick with her fourth goal of the season.
Emerson (6-7-2, 4-4-0 NEWMAC) is right back in action at Rotch Field on Saturday, when it hosts Springfield College for its Alumnae Match and Senior Day at 1 p.m. WPI (8-5-2, 5-1-2 NEWMAC) visits Coast Guard Academy on Saturday at noon.
For the latest on Emerson Athletics, follow the Lions via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well as online at emersonlions.com powered by SIDEARM Sports.
