Worcester, Mass. - Mel Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.) scored all three goals to help propel Clark to a 3-0 road win over WPI in a NEWMAC field hockey contest played on Saturday afternoon.  With the result, the Cougars are now 9-4 on the season and 2-3 in conference play while the Engineers slip to 4-9 overall and 0-5 in NEWMAC play.

Melkonian dented the scoring column for the first time at the 22:57 mark after Talia Fish's (Philadelphia, Pa.) shot was saved and the freshman knocked the rebound to Melkonian, who pushed it into the near corner. 

The sophomore continued her scoring spree in the second half tucking in a pair of breakaways from the left side - the first at 36:35 and the last one with just 43 seconds remaining in the game.  Malkonian, who is second in the country in both goals and points per game, now has four hat tricks this season and seven in her career. The Worcester native has also tallied as point in all 13 Cougar games this fall while amassing 25 goals.

Clark goalkeeper Kate McGrath (Wilmington, Mass.) made two saves en route to posting her second shutout of the season.  The Cougars were aided by a defensive save by Kate Condon (Wading River, N.Y.) at the 11:51 mark.  WPI netminder Liz Dufresne recorded five saves for the Crimson and Gray.

Clark outshot the hosts 14-5 on the day but WPI enjoyed a 7-4 edge in penalty corners.   Sophomore Danielle Antonellis was credited with a team-best two shots for the Cougars while Melkonian and Fish combine to account for 10 Cougar shots.       

Both teams return to action on Tuesday with 7pm NEWMAC road contests in Western Mass.  WPI heads to South Hadley to take on Mount Holyoke while Clark ventures to Springfield to meet the Pride.

Release Courtesy of WPI Sports Information