Blue Field Hockey Tops Clark; Clinches NEWMAC Regular Season Title

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Five different players recorded points as the Wellesley College field hockey team used a 3-0 victory over visiting Clark to clinch the 2013 NEWMAC Regular Season Championship. The Blue finished up their NEWMAC slate with a perfect 8-0 record, moving to 15-2 overall. Clark dips to 8-9 overall, with a 1-6 mark in NEWMAC play.

Wellesley built considerable advantages in both shots and corners, ending the contest with a 26-1 lead in shots, while holding a 22-3 lead in penalty corners. Courtney Peterson, Lallie Lukens, and Nathalie Gruet each scored goals for the Blue, while assists from Meghan Peterson and Anissa Sridhar capped the Wellesley offense.

The Blue held Clark without a first-half shot, but needed over 25 minutes to get on the board. At 25:31, Courtney Peterson broke the scoreless game, deflecting a hard hit ball from Meghan Peterson into the back of the cage.

Wellesley wasted little time in the second half, making it 2-0 just 43 seconds into play. Lukens rifled a shot from just inside the circle on the left side, hitting the back of a defender and then the back of the cage. 

The Blue's final score came in the 49th-minute, when Sridhar collected a rebounded shot and passed it to Gruet who finished for a 3-0 lead that would hold. 

Clark recorded three total penalty corners, but their best chance to score came in the 45th-minute, when Maria Manning's shot was saved by Wellesley keeper, Brit Mscisz. 

Mscisz needed just the one save to record the shut out victory, her fourth of the season. Clark goalie Christine Tinsman faced a barrage of Wellesley shots, making seven total saves. 

Wellesley is back in action on Wednesday, traveling to UMass-Dartmouth for a 7:00pm non-conference clash. Clark next plays on Saturday, November 2nd, hosting Smith the NEWMAC regular season finale for both teams. 

Before the game, Wellesley honored the field hockey class of 2014, Kaitlyn Kirkaldy and Brit Mscisz. This years captains, Kirkaldy and Mscisz have led the Blue to an overall record of 42-20 and a NEWMAC mark of 22-10. 

Field Hockey seniors and parents