Field Hockey Shoulders Tough Non-Conference Loss at Worcester State

Action photo of Lyons field hockey player, Abby Baldwin. Photo credit to Perry Laskaris.

WORCESTER, Mass. - Two first half goals propelled the Worcester State University field hockey team to a 2-0 victory over Mount Holyoke College in non-conference action Tuesday night at Coughlin Field.

With the win, the Lancers improve to 11-6 overall on the season, while the Lyons drop down to 9-8.

Junior Olivia Antonelli (Westford, Mass.) opened the scoring in the contest's 12th minute. Senior Michaila Parent (Westborough, Mass.) broke down the right side on a 2-on-1 to start the play, drawing a Lyon defender and the goalkeeper. Parent slid the ball over to an unmarked Antonelli, who batted the ball into the yawning cage to give the Lancers a 1-0 lead.

Parent extended the Lancer lead to two just eight minutes later with her team-leading 16th goal of the season. Parent took a feed from junior Sophia Monopoli (Worcester, Mass.) before walking in and beating the Lyon keeper just inside the left post to push the score to 2-0, where the score would stay until the break.

Mount Holyoke made a strong push in the second half to cut into the Lancer lead, but Worcester State freshman goalkeeper Jess Hopkins (Chelmsford, Mass.) had other ideas. The Lyons held a 4-1 second half edge in both penalty corners and shots, but three second half saves from Hopkins led the Lancers to the win.

Hopkins earned the shutout victory with five saves to improve to 11-6 in net this season. Mount Holyoke's Morgan Turner (Chester, N.J.) turned aside three shots in the loss.

Next up for the Lancers, they will host their neighbors from Clark on Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. The Lyons will return to the field for their Senior Day on Saturday as they wrap up their regular season with a conference matchup against WPI.