CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Audrey Oh netted the game-winning goal 3:36 into the fourth quarter as MIT held on to defeat Mount Holyoke 2-1 in the NEWMAC field hockey opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon, ending the Lyons' four-game winning streak.
Junior Linnea Alsted (Crownsville, Md.) accounted for the Lyons' lone goal of the day.
MIT (4-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) topped Mount Holyoke (4-4, 0-1 NEWMAC) for the ninth straight game, albeit by the closest margin between the teams since an overtime game in 2018. The Engineers had outscored the Lyons by an aggregate 28-2 over the teams' previous four meetings.
Sierra Kim intercepted a pass along the near sideline and dribbled the ball to the middle of the arc where she placed a shot inside the far post, giving MIT the lead with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
Mount Holyoke evened the score on Alsted's penalty stroke goal after 3:34 elapsed in the second quarter. Both squads had several chances to go ahead, however, the score was deadlocked at halftime.
The Engineers had the upper hand in the third quarter as they outshot the Lyons, 6-2, and had a 2-0 edge in penalty corners, but senior Ainsley Gruener (Topsfield, Mass.) made two saves for the visitors, and Alsted and senior Ashley Scott (South Hadley, Mass.) recorded defensive saves.
The stalemate ended early in the fourth quarter when Sammi Blocher's pass along the far endline made its way through a crowd to Oh at the near post, who quickly tapped the ball in.
Mount Holyoke mounted a late surge as a penalty corner led to a shot from Alsted that was saved by Maeve Zimmer with 3:16 remaining. The Lyons almost tied the game with 35 seconds left when first-year Zoey Candito (Belchertown, Mass.) forced a turnover in MIT's defensive end and carried the ball into the arc. She put a shot to the far post as she was falling, but Zimmer came up with the save.
Zimmer ended the day with five saves. Gruener collected six saves, while Alsted had two defensive saves and Scott added one for the Lyons. The Engineers led the way in shots (17-9), shots on goal (11-6), and penalty corners (7-5).
Mount Holyoke will continue NEWMAC play when it hosts No. 6 Babson next Saturday, September 27 at 12pm.
