SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Sophomore midfielder Colby Newsham nailed a penalty stroke with no time remaining to lift Mount Holyoke College College past Smith College, 3-2 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action on Tuesday evening.
With the victory, the Lyons improve to 5-4 overall and are now 2-1 in conference play. The Pioneers move to 6-5 on the season, suffering their first NEWMAC loss to now sit at 3-1 overall.
Locked in a 2-2 tie with seconds ticking off the clock, Mount Holyoke was awarded a penalty corner. Sophomore midfielder Mirjam Keochakian (Hamburg, Germany/Deerfield Academy) rifled a shot from the top of the circle, but the ball was subsequently covered in the crease, giving the Lyons a penalty stroke with no time remaining.
Newsham (Harvard, Mass./Bromfield School) stepped up to take the stroke for MHC, facing down Smith goalie Cameo Tietje (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) with the game on the line. On the whistle, Newsham sent a shot to the right post, past a diving Tietje for the game-winner (WATCH CLIP).
Smith opened the scoring in the contest, taking a 1-0 lead following a marker from sophomore forward Alex Larosee (Warwick, R.I./Wheeler School). The play was started by senior forward Elsie Odhiambo (Oyugis, Kenya/Kisumu Girls School), who powered her way into the circle, sending a pass to the right in front. Larosee took an off-angle shot that got past Lyons keeper Liz DiCesare (Westford, Mass./Bishop Guertin) at 15:24.
Keochakian tied the match at 26:52 of the first half, after a perfectly injected corner by senior forward Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa./Westtown School) sailed to the top of the circle. The ball was then rifled in on goal past the left side of Tietje (WATCH CLIP).
Mount Holyoke grabbed the 2-1 advantage just over seven minutes later as junior midfielder Sophie Perekslis (Millerton, N.Y./Berkshire School) shot in on goal from the left side. The ball went wide through the crease and Wagner was there to bury it in at the corner post (WATCH CLIP).
Smith nabbed the equalizer in the second half as sophomore midfielder Emily Biggs (Florence, Mass./Northampton) pounded in a rebounded ball on the left side of DiCesare.
The Lyons owned a 19-8 advantage in shots, including a 15-8 margin on goal. MHC also owned a 14-4 edge in penalty corners, six of which came during the first 10 minutes of the opening half.
In goal, DiCesare earned the victory for the Lyons, stopping six shots. Tietje made 11 saves for Smith, while the Pioneers also saw first year Sammie Pavlov (Royersford, Pa./Westtown School) make a defensive save.
Mount Holyoke returns to action on Saturday, hosting Springfield at 12pm. Smith is back on the field on Thursday in a 7pm bout at Western New England.
