NORTON, MA- Freshman Kimberly Barker (Camden,
NY/Camden) scored 2:45 into overtime to lift Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) past Wheaton College, 1-0 on Tuesday
in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC)
field hockey contest on Clark Field during the Lyons' regular
season home finale.
Wheaton received 19 saves from senior keeper Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) and a pair of defensive stops
by teammates, as the Blue and White limited an offense that entered
the contest averaging nearly four goals. The Lyons slipped to 5-10
overall and 1-5 in the league, as each of their last five losses
have come by a single goal. MIT improved to 12-4 and 3-3, recording
its highest overall win total since 1998.
Senior midfielder Alex Block (Saratoga,
CA/Saratoga) and sophomore back Bonnie Davies
(Roxbury, CT/Shepaug Valley) each made defensive saves for
the Lyons, while MIT junior keeper Keri Dixon (Bethlehem,
PA/Singapore American School) collected four saves in net.
The Engineers held advantages of 28-5 in shots and 11-8 in penalty
corners.
MIT had a handful of chances early in the contest, firing off
four consecutive shots during one sequence in the fifth minute, but
Bagley saved each attempt. Wheaton junior Jessica Strock
(Centerville, MA/Barnstable) had her team's best
opportunity in the opening period but was stopped by Dixon with
fewer than two minutes remaining.
Wheaton's defense continued to come up big in the second half,
as Block made a defensive save of senior Ekavali Mishra's
(Washington, DC/Sidwell Friends School) shot in the 41st
minute before Bagley denied a point-blank shot from the middle of
the circle at 47:40.
During the 52nd minute, Strock deflected freshman
Gillian Mann's (Burlington, VT/Williston Northampton
School) hit just right of the cage, and Bagley came up
with a big save at the other end moments later, rushing out to stop
a shot by sophomore Kameron Klauber (Carlsbad,
CA/Carlsbad). Classmate Anna Teruya (Hockessin,
DE/Tower Hill School) later swept a back-hander toward the
right post, but Davies recorded a defensive stop at 53:30.
Strock had a pair of shots stopped by Dixon with a little more
than eight minutes to go in regulation, and the teams headed to
overtime. On MIT's third corner of the extra period, the Engineers
cycled the ball to the right side of the circle and Barker, who
whiffed on an attempt before knocking in the winning marker, with
Bagley rushing out to deny a try.
Wheaton hits the road for its final two regular season contests,
beginning on Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. game against Smith College
at Enrico Fermi High School in Connecticut.
