BRISTOL, R.I. -- Senior Laurissa Montigny scored to make it a a one-goal game in the fourth quarter, but a strong Roger Williams University side outpaced the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team 3-1 in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon.
Mount Holyoke (0-1) had to expect a tough game from Roger Williams (2-0) after the host Hawks' 5-0 victory over WPI, Mount Holyoke's NEWMAC rival, on Friday. RWU also defeated Mount Holyoke 4-0 last season and finished 12-8. But the Lyons did well withstanding enormous offensive pressure early in the game, then played RWU much more evenly.
A fierce effort by Mount Holyoke's defense, backed by an aggressive and dynamic performance by junior goalie Rachel Katzenberg (Reisterstown, Md.), kept the host Hawks locked in a scoreless tie for the game's first 33 minutes, despite a 17-0 difference in shots between the teams to that point. Katzenberg made a whopping eight saves in the first quarter and had made all 10 of her saves before Lily Tobin put RWU on the scoreboard three minutes after halftime.
The Hawks gave themselves a 2-0 lead on their next shot three minutes later, which would prove to be crucial, with Chelsea King feeding Maddy Monahan for the score.
But Mount Holyoke regrouped and changed the tone of the game the rest of the way, despite falling behind by two. The Lyons earned back-to-back penalty corners, their first two of the game, leading to a shot on goal by junior Jayonna Montigny (Enfield, Conn.) and Hawks goalie Hannah Brazil's first save, and held Roger Williams without a shot on goal for the rest of the third quarter.
The Lyons earned two more corners to open the fourth quarter, with the second leading to their score. After Jayonna Montigny's insert, Laurissa Montigny (Enfield, Conn.) then made a nifty play to tip the ball past a defender before hitting a hard shot that Brazil got a piece of but couldn't catch up to enough to stop. With 12:36 remaining in the game, Mount Holyoke had closed the gap to 2-1 and seemed to be playing the hosts evenly.
But Roger Williams responded with an insurance goal four minutes later to take back their two-goal lead, as Hannah Timbrouck scored on an assist by Kelly Doherty with 8:36 left in the game.
Mount Holyoke outshot Roger Williams 3-1 over the final eight minutes of the game and earned a final penalty corner, but couldn't cut back into the Hawks' lead.
