South Hadley, Mass. - September 26, 2019 - Behind three goals from sophomore forward Kass Lawrence (Holyoke, Mass.), the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team defeated Western New England University, 4-2, in non-conference play at the MHC Turf and Track Complex on Thursday evening.
Lawrence becomes the first Mount Holyoke College field hockey student-athlete to record three goals in a single game since October 25, 2017 when Colby Newsham notched five goals in a 10-4 win over Westfield State.
With the win, the Lyons improve to 3-4 on the year as they complete a seven-game stretch of home games to begin the 2019 season. With the loss, Western New England falls to 4-4 overall.
The Lyons dominated the contest, picking up 23 shots compared to the Golden Bears' nine. Mount Holyoke College was also awarded eight penalty corners to Western New England's two. In net for the Lyons, Morgan Turner (Chester, N.J.) made six stops, while her counterpart, Lexie Hemstock (Cheshire, Conn.) notched eight saves in the setback.
Mount Holyoke College struck first as the Lyons were given a penalty corner in the early stages of the second quarter, and in an unsettled situation following a shot from Abby Baldwin (Florence, Mass.), Lawrence was first to the rebound and found the back of the net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
With 5:04 remaining in the second quarter, Western New England was able to even the score as Jacqueline Clark (Auburn, Mass.) sent in a penalty corner, which was blasted at the net by Ali Martin (South Windsor, Conn.), before Clark picked up the rebound and snuck a shot into the back of the net to even the score at one apiece. The Lyons pushed their lead to a pair just 2:54 later when Kylie Brooks (Oceanside, Calif.) picked up a loose rebound in front and found the back of the net to make it 3-1 with 8:15 to play in the third quarter.
Western New England would cut their deficit down to one with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter as Emily Campbell (Goffstown, N.H.) took advantage of a loose-ball situation in front of the net and snuck a shot past Turner to make it 3-2, but the Lyons would respond when Mirei Golding-Powers (San Francisco, Calif.) caused a turnover and slipped a pass to Lawrence on the backside of the cage for an easy finish to complete her hat trick and lift the Lyons' lead to a pair with 11:36 to play in the game.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will travel to Cambridge, Mass. on Saturday, September 28 and will take on NEWMAC-foe MIT at 1 p.m.
For the latest updates on Mount Holyoke College Athletics, follow the Lyons on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
