Courtesy of Wheaton College Sports Information
NORTON, Mass. - Freshman Kimberly Barker scored 2:45 into
overtime to lift MIT past Wheaton College, 1-0 on Tuesday in a New
England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey
contest on Clark Field during the Lyons' regular season home
finale.
Wheaton received 19 saves from senior keeper Andrea Bagley and a
pair of defensive stops by teammates, as the Blue and White limited
an offense that entered the contest averaging nearly four goals.
The Lyons slipped to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in the league, as each of
their last five losses have come by a single goal. MIT improved to
12-4 and 3-3, recording its highest overall win total since
1998.
Senior midfielder Alex Block and sophomore back Bonnie Davies each
made defensive saves for the Lyons, while MIT junior keeper Keri
Dixon collected four saves in net. The Engineers held advantages of
28-5 in shots and 11-8 in penalty corners.
MIT had a handful of chances early in the contest, firing off four
consecutive shots during one sequence in the fifth minute, but
Bagley saved each attempt. Wheaton junior Jessica Strock had her
team's best opportunity in the opening period but was stopped by
Dixon with fewer than two minutes remaining.
Wheaton's defense continued to come up big in the second half, as
Block made a defensive save of senior Ekavali Mishra's shot in the
41st minute before Bagley denied a point-blank shot from the middle
of the circle at 47:40.
During the 52nd minute, Strock deflected freshman Gillian Mann's
hit just right of the cage, and Bagley came up with a big save at
the other end moments later, rushing out to stop a shot by
sophomore Kameron Klauber. Classmate Anna Teruya later swept a
back-hander toward the right post, but Davies recorded a defensive
stop at 53:30.
Strock had a pair of shots stopped by Dixon with a little more than
eight minutes to go in regulation, and the teams headed to
overtime. On MIT's third corner of the extra period, the Engineers
cycled the ball to the right side of the circle and Barker, who
whiffed on an attempt before knocking in the winning marker, with
Bagley rushing out to deny a try.
Wheaton hits the road for its final two regular season contests,
beginning on Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. game against Smith College
at Enrico Fermi High School in Connecticut. MIT will host Mount
Holyoke College on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in its final home game of
the regular season.