SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College field hockey team celebrated Senior Day with a resounding 5-1 victory over Clark University on Saturday, winning their second straight game by a 5-1 score behind sophomore MJ Owens' second straight hat trick.
The Lyons (6-10, 1-7 NEWMAC) earned their first conference win while pulling into a tie for ninth place in the conference with the Cougars (9-8, 1-7 NEWMAC).
First-year Zoey Candito (Belchertown, Mass.) put Mount Holyoke on the board in the 10th minute with her third goal of the season, after also scoring the game's first goal Thursday night against Regis. On an MHC penalty corner, after a Clark defender broke up her first try at a shot, Candito got off low, hard shot inside the far post for a 1-0 Mount Holyoke lead with 5:36 left in the first quarter.
The score remained 1-0 through intermission, but changed 41 seconds into the third quarter when Owens tallied, carrying unimpeded from the right goal-line past Clark goalie Rachel Reiter before depositing her 10th goal of the year.
Owens (Fairfield, Conn.) made it 3-0 early in the fourth quarter, finishing off a long carry with a shot and score just inside the circle.
Clark got into the scoring column less than a minute later with Olivia Bass getting her eighth goal on an assist from Alison Kopec.
But Owens and the Lyons weren't done. Mount Holyoke went up 4-1 with 7:53 left in the game, when Owens tipped in a shot by Candito. And with 1:40 remaining, junior Diane Lee (Boston, Mass.) got into the act with her sixth goal, knocking in the rebound of a shot by first-year Rory Bernardo (Oaklyn, N.J.).
Reiter finished with four saves, while Mount Holyoke senior Ainsley Gruener (Topsfield, Mass.) made four saves in the victory. Mount Holyoke junior captains Mackenzie Hillman (Newington, Conn.) and Scout Climie (Guilford, Conn.) both recorded defensive saves in the second quarter.
Gruener and senior teammates Kellyn Norman (Raleigh, N.C.) and captain Taylor Vettori (Etna, N.H.) were honored before the game along with friends and family.
Mount Holyoke plays its last road game Tuesday at Rivier at 6pm, then its final game on Saturday Nov. 1 at home against Salve Regina.
