NORTON, Mass. – Senior midfielder Ally Slicer (Waterford, Maine) scored the game-winner with 8:05 left in the fourth quarter to give the Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team a 2-1 victory over visiting Mount Holyoke College this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons have won two of their last three and improve to 5-5 overall and 2-2 in league play, while MHC slips to 8-3 and 0-3.
Wheaton controlled play for the majority of the match, owning a 19-10 shot advantage, including 11-4 in shots on cage. The Lyons held an 11-5 margin in penalty corners and were the beneficiaries of 12 penalty minutes assessed to Mount Holyoke during the match.
Junior midfielder Kayla Wilonski (Wallingford, Conn.) tallied Wheaton's other goal and led all players with 10 shots in the contest. Senior goalie Grace Ferguson (Williston, Vt.) made two saves on the day for the Lyons.
Junior forward MJ Owens (Fairfield, Conn.) potted MHC's goal, while first year keeper Addie Oakes (Guilford, Conn.) stopped nine shots.
Slicer gave Wheaton the winning margin off a penalty corner in the fourth quarter. First year defender Sadie Tranter (Simsbury, Conn.) sent the entry pass to sophomore defender Carys Mitchell (Holderness, N.H.), who fired a shot from the edge of the arc. Her shot was re-directed by Slicer over the right shoulder of the Mount Holyoke goalie and into the left corner of the cage for her first marker of the year to make it 2-1.
The visitors looked to re-tie the match with 4:47 to go in the game when Owens carried the ball into the goal mouth, but Ferguson came off her line to snuff out the attempt and keep the Blue & White's lead intact.
The Lyons were the first on the board with a goal coming off a penalty corner with under five minutes to play in the second quarter for a 1-0 margin. Wilonski eventually gained control during the corner and weaved her way inside the goal mouth on the right side, before uncorking a shot from 10 yards out that found the back of the cage for her team-leading eighth goal of the season.
Wheaton took the one-goal edge into the intermission, but MHC wasted no time with the equalizer, scoring just 34 seconds into the new half. Owens took advantage of a Lyon' turnover just before midfield and carried the ball down the left side – drawing the Wheaton keeper off her line – before firing a shot into the far left side for her eighth goal of the season to knot the game at 1-1.
The Lyons will be in action again on Tuesday, October 6 when they head to Providence, R.I. to play nearby Johnson & Wales University at 6:00 p.m., while Mount Holyoke hosts NEWMAC foe Wellesley College on the same day at the same time.
