Conn. College Spoils Blue Field Hockey's Comeback Bid, Wins 4-3 in OT

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Trailing 3-1 in the second half, Wellesley College field hockey rallied to tie the game, 3-3, before Connecticut College first year Caroline Ferro (Wilton, Conn.) scored 10:58 into the first overtime period to lift the host Camels to a 4-3 overtime win in non-conference play on Wednesday night at Silfen Field. 

Connecticut College snapped a four-game skid with the victory, improving to 4-8 overall while dropping the Blue to 5-7 on the year.

After coming up short on two penalty corner chances in the opening five minutes of play, Wellesley grabbed a 1-0 lead on a goal from junior Arielle Mitropoulos (Cambridge, Mass.) at 6:15. Connecticut College took over the game following Mitropoulos' sixth goal of the season, earning five penalty corners and outshooting Wellesley 12-0 before tying the contest when junior Jamie Navoni (Natick, Mass.) scored unassisted with just 2:32 left in the first. 

Wellesley first year goalkeeper Janelle Sullivan (Philadelphia, Pa.) matched her season game-high with nine saves in the first half alone, but gave way to junior Maggie Connelly (Duxbury, Mass.) after the Camels opened the second half with back-to-back goals.

Connecticut College first year Kaja Hartwell (Hyde Park, Mas.) made the score 2-1 just 3:21 into the second half, before Navoni helped the Camels take a two goal lead over a minute and a half later. Navoni scored her second of the game and seventh of the season at 39:57, at the time making the score 3-1. 

Wellesley junior Rachel Hwang (Campbell, Calif.) started the rally, knocked home a goal following a Wellesley penalty corner at 53:39 to cut the Camel lead to one, at 3-2. The goal was the first of the season for Hwang. First year Isabella van Atten (West Boylston, Mass.) then picked a good time to score her first career collegiate goal, tying the score at 3-3 with 1:56 left in regulation to ultimately send the game into overtime.

The Camels finished the contest with a 17-5 advantage in shots but needed overtime to win the contest. Unfortunately, Ferro found the back of the Wellesley cage with Connecticut College's final shot to give the Camels the 4-3 win. 

In the cage, Connecticut College first year goalkeeper Andi McGraw (Sheffield, Mass.) made one save to improve to 4-8 on the season. Connelly (3-2) made two stops in relief for the Blue.

Wellesley will hit the road again on Friday night, when they travel to Springfield for 6:00 PM New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) bout. Connecticut College will play at Eastern Connecticut State on Wednesday, October 18, at 4:30 PM.