WORCESTER, Mass. - Mount Holyoke got a pair of goals from Sophie Perekslis (Millerton, N.Y.) and two assists from Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa.) and the visiting Lyons registered a 3-0 win over Clark University in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Mount Holyoke improves to 5-4 overall and more importantly evens their conference record at 1-1, while the Cougars, who were coming off of back-to-back wins, slip to 4-6 and 0-2 in league contests.
The game was pretty even throughout the first half as neither team could find the back of the cage. Perekslis changed that in the waning seconds of the opening stanza when she banged home a pass out in front from Kathryn Rawson (Old Town, Maine) with just 18 seconds left before intermission.
That lead doubled in the early moments of the second half when Wagner inserted a pass on a penalty corner that Sarah LaQuerre (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) lifted high in the air and over the outstretched arms of Christine Tinsman (Prairie Village, Kan.) for her third goal of the season in the 39th minute.
Clark could never truly mount an offensive attack as several of their downfield rushes were snuffed out by the Lyons' backline, in particular standout Ruvimbo Mushavi (Harare, Zimbabwe).
Mount Holyoke put the game away in the 63rd minute when Wagner delivered her team-leading fifth assist of the year to Perekslis at 62:25.
The Lyons held advantages in shots (10-2) and penalty corners (14-2) in besting the Scarlet and White for the third straight season.
Liz DiCesare (Westford, Mass.) needed to only make a pair of first half saves to collect her second shutout of the season. Tinsman, meanwhile, turned aside seven shots in defeat for Clark.
Both teams are back in action with NEWMAC road contests on Tuesday. The Lyons travel to Smith while the Cougars make the short trip down Park Avenue for a meeting with WPI.
Game story courtesy of Kevin Anderson, Clark University Sports Information.
