Worcester, Mass. - Senior captain Lauren Blake (Oakland, Maine) led a four-goal second half explosion with her second hat trick of the season, as host Clark knocked off visiting Wellesley 6-3 in a key matchup in NEWMAC field hockey action on Saturday at Granger Field.

The meeting featured the top two teams in the league and didn't disappoint as the offensive fireworks started almost from the beginning. Clark freshman Mel Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.) scored two breakaway goals in the game's first 20 minutes sandwiched around a Wellesley goal from Callie Lekas (Brewster, Mass.) to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Wellesley opened the second half with a goal from Kate Cushing less than two minutes in to even the game at 2-2. Blake answered back almost immediately, firing a low rocket from left to right that whizzed past a defender and goalkeeper Sarina Sawyer.

Freshman Madeleine Lutts (Salem, Mass.) was the next player to score - registering her third goal of the season off a feed from Blake at 54:19 - giving Clark a 4-2 lead.

Lekas responded a little more than two minutes later with an unassisted tally, trimming the Cougar advantage to 4-3.

Blake then added a pair of goals 30 seconds apart to end any thoughts of a Wellesley comeback and put Clark in prime position for their first NEWMAC regular season title since 2002.

Senior netminder Kathryn Dawsey (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) turned back 14 shots for the Cougars, while Sawyer made six saves in defeat for Wellesley.

At 5-2 in conference play, Clark is in control of its own destiny. With a win over MIT on Tuesday at home, the Cougars would win the outright conference title.

For Melkonian, her two goals and two assists, give her 37 points - the most-ever by a Clark freshman - and place her in 19th place on the school's all-time scoring list in just 13 games.