UMass Dartmouth Shuts Out Wellesley Field Hockey

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The visiting University of Massachusetts Dartmouth field hockey team posted a 4-0 shutout over host Wellesley College in non-conference action on Wednesday evening in Wellesley. The win lifts the Corsairs to 13-5 overall, while the Blue dip to 11-7.

Shots were even in the contest at 10 apiece, but UMass Dartmouth held a 10-8 edge in penalty corners, with each of their goals coming after corner opportunities. 

The first half featured tight play from each squad, with the teams combining for just five total shot attempts. Wellesley's best chance to score in the first half came when Anissa Sridhar's 23rd-minute attempt was saved by the Corsairs' Lauren O'Brien. 

Six minutes later, Jenna Miedzionowski broke through on the scoreboard, using a hard blast from the top of the circle to make it 1-0 Corsairs in the 29^th-minute. 

Miedzionowski's goal held as the only score of the first half, as UMD went into the break holding on to the 1-0 advantage.

The visitors pushed their edge to 2-0 early in the second half, with Cory Connolly connecting for her 12th goal of the season after a rebound. Wellesley responded, racking up four shots and four penalty corners over the next 15 minutes, but the Blue were unable to get on the board.

Miedzionowski would push it to 3-0 in the 58th minute, on another hard shot from the top of the circle, this one assisted by Victoria Dolce. The Corsair's Erica Allan later made it 4-0, after a feed from Jenna Miedzionowski. 

Wellesley had several opportunities to score down the stretch, but three straight shots between the 60th and 61st minute were all denied by O'Brien, who picked her fifth shutout of the season. 

O'Brien ended the contest with four saves for UMD, picking up her 13^th victory in the cage. Wellesley's Brit Mscisz and Becky Hamilton split time in goal for the hosts, as Mscisz picked up one stop and Hamilton added two second-half saves. 

Wellesley is back in action on Saturday, traveling to Springfield for a 1:00pm clash in the NEWMAC regular season finale. UMD also plays on Saturday, hosting Plymouth State at 4:00pm in their final regular season Little East game.