DUDLEY, Mass. – Powered by a four-goal effort from junior forward Charlotte Wagner, the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team posted a 9-0 road victory over Nichols College on Tuesday evening. With the win, the #14 Lyons are now 1-0, while the Bison are 0-1.

Mount Holyoke got things going quickly, scoring three goals in the first 4:30 of the contest. Senior forward Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson) opened the drive just over two minutes in after she buried the rebound of a Sarah LaQuerre (Old Orchard Beach, Maine/Cheverus) shot. The Lyons made it 2-0 less than a minute later as LaQuerre took a shot from outside the circle that was redirected in by a Bison defender.

Wagner pushed the visitors advantage to 3-0 at the 4:30 mark after she pounded in the rebound through traffic. Sophomore midfielder Sophie Perekslis (Millerton, N.Y./Berkshire School), who took the initial shot on Wagner's goal, buried one of her own at 10:36 as she found a loose ball in front for the 4-0 lead.

After a bit of back-and-forth, Mount Holyoke pushed the advantage to 5-0 as first year Kristina Ramsden (Florence, Mass./Northampton) and Perekslis found themselves in a 2-on-1 with Bison goalie Ariana Beauregard. Rushing into the zone down the right side, Perekslis came into the circle and found Ramsden on the left for the open net goal.

The Lyons, which saw Bell net the sixth goal of the game just before halftime, held a 20-5 advantage in shots for the opening 35 minutes, including a 15-2 margin on goal. MHC also led in penalty corners by a 7-3 margin.

In the second half, Wagner and Ramsden stole the show, combining for the final two goals of the game. At the 44:15 mark, Wagner buried a turn-around shot from a sharp angle for the 7-0 lead. She then buried a pass from Ramsden at the left post to make it an eight-goal game. The pair then concluded the scoring for MHC at 60:32 as Ramsden injected the ball off a corner to Wagner, who sent a blistering shot through the circle and in.

In addition to the solid scoring effort, the Lyons saw strong defense as well. Leading the way was junior goalie Liz DiCesare (Westford, Mass./Bishop Guertin), who stopped two shots over the first 35 minutes to pick up the victory. Classmate AllyTessier (Coventry, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey School ) came on in relief to start the second half, stopping one shot over 30:18 before giving way to first year Riani Booysen (Pretoria, South Africa/Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool), who also made a save over the final 4:42.

For the Bison, Katherine Cotton shouldered the loss, stopping one shot over the first 4:30. Ariana Beauregard came on in relief, stopping 14 shots over 65:30 minutes of action.

The Lyons, who held a 35-7 edge in shots and a 14-3 margin in corners, moved to 9-2 all-time against the Bison and have now won the last six meetings.

Nichols returns to action on Thursday, traveling to Mount Ida for a 4pm game. MHC is back on the field on Saturday, hosting Rensselaer at 1pm.