South Hadley, Mass. - September 14, 2019 - Playing its fourth-straight home contest to open the 2019 season, the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team defeated Thomas College, 4-2, at the MHC Turf and Track Complex on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Lyons improve to 2-2 on the year, while the Terriers are now 1-2 with the setback. Senior goalkeeper Morgan Turner (Chester, N.J.) got the start for the Lyons and played fantastic, making 10 saves over 60 minutes of play, including four cruicial stops in the first quarter. Turner's counterpart, Leah Kruse (Norridgewock, Maine), made three saves for the Terriers. Thomas posted 19 shots to the Lyons' 12, while Terriers also held a 9-8 advantage in penalty corners.
With 2:52 to play in the first quarter, Kylie Brooks (Oceanside, Calif.) sent in a penalty corner to Mirei Golding-Powers (San Francisco, Calif.), who carried the ball towards the net before sneaking a pass to Kass Lawrence (Holyoke, Mass.), who easily redirected it into the empty net to give Mount Holyoke College a 1-0 advantage. Just 4:16 into the second quarter, the Lyons pushed its lead to a pair when Mollee Malboeuf (Fitchburg, Mass.) collected a loose ball in front of the cage, before slipping a shot past Kruse to make it 2-0, Mount Holyoke College, with 10:44 to play in the first half. Malboeuf's goal marked the first of her collegiate field hockey career.
With 4:27 to play in the third quarter, Mount Holyoke College made it 3-0 as Laurissa Montigny (Enfield, Conn.) rocketed a shot at the cage following a penalty corner, which was blocked, but Golding-Powers was first to the ball and after short scrum, the ball landed on the stick of Brooks, who made no mistake and took advantage of the opportunity, pushing the Lyons' lead to three goals.
Heading into the fourth quarter with a 3-0 lead, the Lyons pushed their advantage to four goals as another penalty corner resulted in Abby Baldwin (Florence, Mass.) coming up with a rebound following a shot from Margaret Robb (Summit, N.J.), before sliding a shot past Kruse to make it 4-0 with 13:06 to play.
Thomas got on the board with 7:12 remaining as Lindsey Gregoire (Kennebunk, Maine) tipped home a shot from Kelci Faulkingham (Belfast, Maine), before Gregoire added another with 2:02 to play on an shot from inside the arch to cut the deficit in half, but the Lyons eventually sealed the victory.
Lawrence finished the game with three points on a goal and an assist, while Golding-Powers added a pair of assists in the victory.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will return to the MHC Turf and Track Complex on Tuesday, September 17 as the Lyons will play host to Wesleyan at 5:30 p.m.
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