Worcester, Mass. - Freshman Mel
Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.) completed her second straight
hat trick midway through the first overtime period, sending Clark
University past Wheaton College, 4-3 in a New England Women's and
Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey contest on Saturday
at Granger Field.
The Lyons slipped to 5-9 overall and 1-4 in the league after
winning the previous five meetings with the Cougars. Clark improved
to 7-4 and 4-1, as the squads have now gone to overtime in each of
their last three contests in Worcester.
Junior Julia Atwood (Concord, MA/Brooks School) scored twice for
Wheaton, while sophomore Emily Asack (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton) also
got on the board. Senior Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) made
eight saves for the visitors, who recorded 14 of the game's 21
penalty corners.
Freshman Madeleine Lutts (Salem, Mass.) notched a
goal and two assists for Clark, which held a 15-12 edge in shots,
while senior Kathryn Dawsey (Saratoga Springs,
N.Y.) made seven stops. Classmate Gloria Torres
(West Hartford, Conn.) contributed a pair of defensive saves.
Asack got Wheaton off and running just 4:58 into the contest with
her 10th marker of the year before Atwood converted sophomore
Catherine Fitzgerald's (Charlton, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) touch
at 14:25. The Lyons nearly took the 2-0 edge into halftime, but
Melkonian put her team on the board with just 38 seconds
remaining.
Torres denied Atwood in the 37th minute, but Atwood found the back
of the net at 41:33, providing the Lyons with their second two-goal
lead. In the 48th minute, Bagley stopped a shot, but the rebound
found Lutts, who made it 3-2. At 54:33, Melkonian knotted the
contest off of Lutts' assist, and Torres provided a critical
defensive save in the 65th minute that kept the score tied. Wheaton
ran off a pair of corners with no time remaining but was not able
to fire off a shot.
In overtime, each team had an opportunity to net the winner, as
Dawsey denied junior Margaux Bolte before Melkonian tallied off a
Lutts helper at 77:24.
The Cougars return to action on Tuesday with a road match-up with
NEWMAC foe Mount Holyoke.
