Worcester, Mass. – Mel Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.) scored three goals – including a pair in the game's final 20 minutes to rally host Clark University to a dramatic 4-3 win over New England College on Saturday afternoon in non-league field hockey action.

The Cougars (1-0) improve to 26-2 in all-time season openers under head coach Linda Wage, while the Pilgrims, who lost 7-1 to MIT on Friday afternoon, slips to 0-2 on the season.

Melkonian put Clark up 1-0 early on with a goal on a penalty stroke in the 13 th minute.

New England College then evened the contest with a goal from Patricia Wright (Essex, Mass.) on a feed from Rachel Carnaroli (Bellingham, Mass.) less than four minutes later.

The Pilgrims took the lead in the 24th minute when Carnaroli helped Jennifer Adams to her first score of the season.

Madeleine Lutts (Salem, Mass.) tied the game up three minutes later when she got help from Talia Fish (Philadelphia, Pa.).

NEC wasted little time getting back ahead when Wright set up Kate Roberge (Essex, Vt.), sending the Pilgrims into halftime with a 3-2 edge.

Midway through the second half Melkonian evened the game with her second goal of the game at 51:51.

She then gave the Cougars the lead for good when her shot bounced off of the stick of a Pilgrim defender's stick and into the back of the cage.

Even though the shot total was even at 17-17, New England College held a 19-4 advantage in penalty corners.

Melkonian, meanwhile, recorded her 15 th career hat trick in the win and has ten career goals in four all-time games against the Pilgrims.

Jordannah Saunders (Scarborough, Maine), who played the final 35 minutes for the Cougars in goal, made several key saves down the stretch of the game to record her first career win.

Clark will be back in action on Thursday when they play host to UMass-Dartmouth, while NEC will look to get into the win column on Wednesday with a trip to Wellesley College.