Worcester, Mass. - Clark senior Jess Mirkin (Wellesley, Mass.) banged home a loose ball in front of the net just 2:41 into the contest as the host Cougars blanked visiting Babson, 1-0 on Saturday afternoon on Granger Soccer Field.

The victory extends Clark's unbeaten streak to five games - a stretch in which they have outscored their opponents by a combined 10-1 and posted four shutouts.

More importantly, the Cougars move to 3-0-1 in NEWMAC play and now hold a half game lead over Wheaton (3-1-0) for first place in the conference.

Senior netminder Joanna Clark (Windham, Maine) made Mirkins goal stand as she turned away six shots for her fifth shutout this season.

In fact, she hasn't allowed a goal since the first half of the Western Connecticut match on October 3rd, a span of 363:02 minutes of game action.

Babson had excellent chances in each half to even the score but was unable to come up with the equalizer. A scramble in front resulted in back-to-back shots for Ashley Tourso (Glen Rock, N.J. ) but Clark saved one and the other was blocked by a Cougar defender.

Their second opportunity came in the second half when Amy Festa (Medfield, Mass.) unleashed a rocket that moved right to left but a diving Clark corralled the ball at the 79:45 mark.

For the match Clark made six saves, while Beaver netminder Sarah Macary (Woodbury, Conn.) only needed to make one stop.

The win snaps a three-game regular season losing streak to the Beavers for the Cougars, who are now riding their longest unbeaten streak since 2005.

Clark returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Smith, while Babson looks to get back in the win column with a road test at Wheaton.