SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Sept. 15, 2012) – Senior forward Angelica Pascual and sophomore midfielder Kirsten Kilburn each notched four goals as the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team defeated Smith College, 9-1 in the NEWMAC opener for both teams. The Lyons move to 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, while the Pioneers slip to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the NEWMAC.
Mount Holyoke, which has now won each of the last 11 meetings against the Pioneers, set the tone early as Kilburn (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) fired a shot in that richoched off the goaltenders pads just 2:14 into the contest. Pascual (Lawrence, Mass./Proctor Academy) then made it a 2-0 advantage just over three minutes later as she connected off an outstanding pass from first year Sarah LaQuerre (Old Orchard Beach, Maine/Cheverus).
Kilburn then made it a three-goal game at the 12:44 mark after she fired a shot at Pioneers netminder Savannah Lawson (Oak Bluffs, Mass./Martha's Vineyard), which the keeper initially saved. Making a heads-up play, Kilburn swooped in for the rebound shot into the right corner of the goal.
Smith cut the deficit at 16:10 when senior Dari Goulden (Rutledge, Pa./Strath Haven) sent a hard shot of her own at Lyons goalie Anne O'Byrne (Newbury, N.H./Proctor Academy), which was saved, but deflected back to Goulden for the goal into the left side.
The Lyons continued to pour on the offense as Kilburn and Pascual each scored again and sophomore Chrissy Boyles (Harvard, Mass./Acton Boxborough) put one in just before the end of the first half to make it a 6-1 advantage for Mount Holyoke.
Pascual and Kilburn continued to put on a show in the second half of action beginning at 46:47 when Pascual scored unassisted off her own rebound shot. The duo combined for the Lyons next tally as Kilburn sent a cross from left to right in front, which Pascual buried in across the line for the 8-1 lead.
Kilburn capped the scoring at 60:20 after firing a shot off a corner past the reach of netminder Nora Demick (Watertown, Mass./Beaver Country Day).
Smith tried to climb back into the game, aided by an 8-2 advantage in corners over the final 35:00 of the game, but could not overcome the deficit.
The Lyons held a 27-8 advantage in shots, while the Pioneers had a 10-5 edge in penalty corners. In goal, O'Byrne moved to 3-2 on the season, stopping one shot over 70:00 minutes. For Smith, Lawson recorded six saves in the first half before giving way to Demick, who made six saves in the second stanza.
Mount Holyoke returns to the field on Tuesday in a 7pm contest at Western New England. Smith is also in action on Tuesday, hosting Westfield State at 4:30pm.
