Box Score WELLESLEY, Mass. – Led by a pair of goals from senior Hannah Flesch (Rockville, Md.), No. 10 Wellesley College field hockey ran to a 5-2 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win over visiting Clark University on Saturday at the Wellesley Athletics Fields Complex.
Celebrating senior day for Flesch and fellow seniors Caitlin Crawford (Yarmouth, Maine), Caroline Guild (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) and Anissa Sridhar (London, Ontario), the Blue improved to 14-2 overall and 7-1 in the NEWMAC. Clark is now 5-11 overall (1-6 NEWMAC).
The Blue scored five unanswered goals to open the contest, as Wellesley finished the game with a 20-5 advantage in shots and a 13-3 advantage in penalty corners.
Sridhar hammered home a rebound on a penalty corner for her eleventh goal of the year at 17:53 of the first. The Blue would double their advantage before halftime, again scoring on a penalty corner when Flesch redirected a drive from junior Nikki Sharkin (Summit, N.J.).
Wellesley continued to attack in the second half, making the score 3-0 when first years Cecie Negron (Midlothian, Va.) and Rachel Hwang (Campbell, Calif.) combined for a goal at 39:31. With Huang breaking toward the top of the circle, Negron fired a crossing pass on to her stick before Huang calmly finished for her seventh goal of the season.
Wellesley junior Courtney Peterson (Glastonbury, Conn.) scored the fourth Wellesley goal in the 46th minute, using a great individual move to score her tenth of the year. Peterson has now scored 10 or more goals in all three of her seasons in Blue.
Flesch then added her ninth goal of the season, and her second of the game, when she one-timed a pass from outside the circle from Peterson at 47:59.
The Cougars scored a pair of goals late to break the Blue's shutout bid. Clark capitalized on a corner in the 57th minute when junior Alyssa Williams (New Sharon, Maine) scored her first of the year after slamming home the insertion pass from first year Olivia Barksdale (Fort Washington, Md.).
Clark added another on a restart with less then three minutes to play. Junior Julia Baud (Utrecht, Netherlands) took a big swing from outside the circle following a foul. As the ball skimmed in toward the Blue cage, junior Lauren Mackey (Dublin, N.H.) got around the Blue defense and redirected the ball past Wellesley goalkeeper Lucy Hurlock (Needham, Mass.).
Hurlock made a pair of saves for the Blue. Senior Christine Tinsman (Prairie Village, Kan.) and first year Dani Michaud (Providence, R.I.) combined to make 10 saves in the Clark cage, with Tinsman starting the contest and making seven.
Wellesley will finish the regular season with a non-conference matchup at UMass.-Dartmouth on Wednesday, October 28, at 7:00 PM. Clark will host Smith in their final NEWMAC game on Saturday, October 31, 1:00 PM.
