Worcester, Mass. – Powered by four first half goals including three from sophomore Mel Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.) Clark University made its way into the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) postseason field hockey tournament with a 4-0 win over Wellesley College on Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars enter the postseason riding high having scored nine goals in their last two games and their 11 wins this season are the most since an 11-7 campaign back in 2004.

Needing a win in order to earn the postseason berth, Clark set the tone with a goal less than three minutes into the contest when Madeleine Lutts (Salem, Mass.) took a feed from Katherine Rowe (Fort Myer, Va.) and rattled the back of the cage.

The Cougars were back at it a little more than ten minutes later when Melkonian deposited her 30th goal of the season at the 13:51 mark.

She notched her second goal of the game at 26:38 when she buried a pass off of a corner from Meghan Lennon (Charlton, Mass.) for a 3-0 Clark advantage.

The Scarlet and White held an advantage in almost every statistical category, firing more shots (18-5) and getting more corners (10-8).

Wellesley received a stellar effort in net from Sarina Sawyer (Wilmette, Ill.) who turned back 11 shots, including seven in the final stanza.

Melkonian wrapped up the scoring with her sixth hat trick of the season and the ninth of her career when she scored moments before halftime to move the Cougar lead to the eventual final score of 4-0.

The win marked the second straight shutout for netminder Kate McGrath (Wilmington, Mass.), who now has four on the season.

Clark will open postseason play on Tuesday when the Cougars visit Wheaton for a quarterfinal meeting with the Lyons. Game time is slated for 2:00 p.m.