SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Oct. 19, 2010) – Led by forwards Shara Robertson and Stephanie Slysz, the Mount Holyoke field hockey team topped New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe WPI this evening at Mount Holyoke Turf Field. With the win, the Lyons closed out their homestand with a perfect 3-0 mark. It was their fourth win in their last five outings.
Both teams went scoreless until the 24:40 mark, when junior forward Celena Dopart hopped on a loose ball at the top of the circle and placed a backhand past junior goalkeeper Katie Gibson.
Refusing to go away, Mount Holyoke responded with two unanswered goals in the second half.
The first came from Slysz in the 40th minute. After collecting the ball about 20 yards out, she dribbled into the circle and drilled a shot past first year Liz Dufresne. The forward has now recorded goals in each of the Lyons' last five matches. Over that span, she has found the back of the cage six times to bring her season total to seven.
Robertson then scored what proved to be the winner off a penalty corner set in the 66th minute. It was her team leading 12th goal of the fall. The forward has now amassed four winners this year and 11 in her outstanding career. Junior midfielder Taylor Hedges was credited with her team leading fourth assist on the play after her long pass from the right side made its way all the way to Robertson on the doorstep.
The Lyons finished with decisive edges in both shots (21-4) and penalty corners (16-1). Gibson collected two saves, while Dufresne had nine.
Over the course of the evening, donations were accepted, with all proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation for breast cancer awareness. Fans were encouraged to wear pink and contribute to research initiatives, as the Lyons partnered with the Play 4 the Cure Foundation to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer through the "Play Pink" initiative. "Play Pink" is a nationwide, unified effort by field hockey teams to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the field, across campuses, in communities and beyond. Members of the Mount Holyoke team were sporting pink t-shirts during their pre-game warm-ups.
Both squads will resume their NEWMAC slates on Saturday. Mount Holyoke (8-5, 3-3 NEWMAC) will visit Clark University at 1:00 p.m., while WPI (4-10, 0-6 NEWMAC) will travel to Wellesley College at noon. The Lyons' final home match will be on Saturday, October 30 against Springfield College at 1:00 p.m.