Worcester, Mass. - November 5, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College field hockey team fell to WPI, 3-0, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Quarterfinals on Tuesday evening at Alumni Stadium.
With the loss, the Lyons season comes to a close with a record of 9-10, while the Engineers improve to 17-2 and will now advance to take on No. 2 MIT on Thursday, November 5.
WPI held a 14-7 shot advantage over 60 minutes of play, while the Lyons were granted seven penalty corners compared to the Engineers' six. In net for the Lyons, Morgan Turner (Chester, N.J.) made four saves, while her counterpart, Gabrielle Acquista (Longmeadow, Mass.) produced a pair of saves in the victory.
WPI jumped out to an early advantage as Kaitlyn Hess (Milford, N.H.) took control of the ball at the midfield and carried it all the way up the right side of the field before burying a shot past Turner to give the Engineers a 1-0 lead with 5:51 to play in the first quarter. Following the goal, Mount Holyoke College put some pressure back on WPI's net as Margaret Robb (Summit, N.J.) got off a shot that was saved by Acquista, before the Lyons were awarded a penalty corner that generated a shot from Kylie Brooks (Oceanside, Calif.), but the chance sailed just wide. Mount Holyoke College had one more opportunity with less than one minute left in the stanza as Mirei Golding-Powers (San Francisco, Calif.) got a shot off on cage but Acquista was up to the task and made the stop to keep the Lyons off the scoreboard.
Mount Holyoke College continued its hunt for the equalizing goal in the early stages of the second quarter as two penalty corners resulted in a pair of shots for the Lyons, but the Engineers countered and earned a pair of penalty corners of their own before Carlee Irish (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) notched her third goal of the season, assisted by Abby O'Sullivan (Walpole, Mass.) with 2:27 left in the second half.
With less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter WPI pushed its lead to three as Hannah Larochelle (New Boston, N.H.) found the back of the net from just inside the arch, making it 3-0, Engineers, with 4:53 on the clock.
A great effort from Robb resulted in the Lyons earning a penalty corner with less than 10 minutes to play. Golding-Powers sent the ball all the way up top to Phoebe Aaronson (Mountain View, Calif.) who ripped a shot on cage, which was redirected, but WPI's Jackie Cardin (Manchester, N.H.) came up with a huge defensive save to keep Mount Holyoke College off the board. From there, the Lyons were granted two more penalty corners but WPI defused both chances and sealed the 3-0 victory.
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