South Hadley, Mass. - August 31, 2019 - Behind a five-point performance from junior captain Mirei Golding-Powers (San Francisco, Calif.), the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team defeated Roger Williams, 4-2, in its season-opening contest at the Turf and Track Complex on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Lyons improve to 1-0 overall, while the Hawks fall to 0-1. Golding-Powers had a pair of goals in the decisive third quarter in which the Lyons scored three of their four goals. The junior also helped set up Mount Holyoke College's second goal of the game, which was a goal from Kass Lawrence (Holyoke, Mass.) off of a penalty corner. Sophomore Margaret Robb (Summit, N.J.) added a pair of assists in the victory, while Laurissa Montigny (Enfield, Conn.) scored her first-career goal.
In net for the Lyons, Morgan Turner (Chester, N.J.) made 13 saves, while her counterpart, Callie Flanagan (Wenham, Mass.) only made three stops in the setback.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Lyons finally broke open the scoring with 6:06 to play in the first half when Golding-Powers sent in a penalty corner, which was controlled by Montigny. The sophomore then slid a pass to Robb, who dished it right back to Montigny, before she blasted a shot past Flanagan to give Mount Holyoke a 1-0 advantage, a lead the Lyons would carry into the halftime break.
The Lyons came out firing in the second half, as Golding-Powers sent in a penalty corner just 1:48 into the third quarter, which was controlled by Robb. The sophomore then lifted the ball towards the cage, eventually finding Lawrence, who was able to get a stick on it before it crossed the goal line giving the Lyons a 2-0 advantage. Just 1:05 later, Micaela Pierce (Newton, Mass.) drove a ball deep into the Hawks' defensive territory, which was caught up to by Golding-Powers, who turned towards the cage and slipped a shot past Flanagan for her first of the contest, pushing Mount Holyoke's lead to three.
After Roger Williams found the back of the net with 5:34 to play in the third quarter, the Lyons responded right away, as just 54 seconds later, Kylie Brooks (Oceanside, Calif.) laced a pass to the opposite side of the net, which was received by Golding-Powers, who once again used solid body position to put a bid on cage that snuck past Flanagan to make it 4-1, Lyons.
The Hawks netted a goal with 1:31 to play in the contest, but Roger Williams' rally fell short, resulting in a 4-2 victory for the Lyons.
Mount Holyoke College will return to play on Thursday, September 5 as the Lyons will host Amherst College at 7 p.m. at the Turf and Track Complex.
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