SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Mount Holyoke sophomore MJ Owens' 15th goal of the season made it a 2-1 game, but visiting Salve Regina University held off the Lyons and got a late goal in a 3-1 NEWMAC victory in the regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday.
Mount Holyoke (7-11, 1-8 NEWMAC) saw its three-game winning streak end despite Owens scoring in her fourth straight game. The sophomore finishes the season with the most goals (15) and points (31) by a Lyons player since 2013.
Salve Regina (11-7, 4-5 NEWMAC) finished alone in fifth place in the final conference standings with the win. The Seahawks will play at No. 4 seed Springfield in the first round of the NEWMAC playoffs on Tuesday.
The Seahawks took a 1-0 lead halfway through the first quarter on their third shot attempt on a penalty corner. After Natalie Vaughan was turned away by Mount Holyoke senior goalie Ainsley Gruener (Topsfield, Mass.), and then had a second shot blocked by senior defender Taylor Vettori (Etna, N.H.), Bella Gannon found the back of the cage off the rebound, for her fifth goal of the season.
Jordyn Pineault then made it 2-0 for Salve with 9:40 remaining in the first half. Pineault carried into the circle on a break and had a shot at the top of the circle blocked by Lyons junior Linnea Alsted (Crownsville, Md.). Pineault followed the ball to her left and knocked in a long backhand shot that found the inside of the far post, for her third goal of the season.
Owens then closed the gap to 2-1 with 4:29 remaining in the half, fighting off two Seahawks defenders on her way into the circle, then rolling a 10-yard shot inside the far post.
The score stayed at 2-1 for the next 32 minutes of action, but Salve added an insurance goal with 1:43 left. Pineau struck again from the right side of the circle on the Seahawks' 12th and final penalty corner, set up with a pass from Georgia Costello.
Salve Regina had a 30-8 advantage in shots and a 12-3 edge in penalty corners. All of the Lyons' shots and penalty corners came in the second quarter.
Gruener finished with nine saves, while Alsted and junior Scout Climie (Guilford, Conn.) had defensive saves for Mount Holyoke.
Siany Ortez had three saves for Salve Regina.
