Field Hockey Falls to Roger Williams, 4-2

SPRINGFIELD, Mass – The Western New England University field hockey team fell behind early and was unable to recover in a 4-2 loss to Roger Williams on Wednesday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium.

Top Performers
The Roger Williams offense was spread out as the Hawks had four different goal scorers - senior Sydney McCarthy (Little Falls, N.Y.), freshman Lauren Deering (Norwalk, Conn.), sophomore Brooklyn Cenatiempo (Trumbull, Conn.), and freshman Morgan Foley (Hanover, Mass.).

The Golden Bears received goals from senior forward Jacqueline Clark (Auburn, Mass.) and sophomore forward Taylor Klesyk (Hamden, Conn.).

Game Review
The Hawks opened the scoring midway through the first quarter. Following a penalty corner, senior Alex Coppinger (Guilderland, N.Y.) had a shot that was saved by Western New England goalkeeper Lexie Hemstock (Cheshire, Conn.). The rebound fell to McCarthy who then tapped it in to give Roger Williams a 1-0 lead.

Roger Williams extended their lead with 40 seconds remaining in the quarter. After another penalty corner, Coppinger played a short pass to Deering, who fired it through the Golden Bear defense to give the Hawks a 2-0 advantage.

Western New England cut into the deficit in the 23rd minute when Clark tapped one home in front of the net. Sophomore Ali Martin (South Windsor, Conn.) had a shot saved by Hawks goalkeeper Callie Flanagan (Wenham, Mass.) that fell perfectly into the path of Clark, who put it home to cut the Roger Williams lead to 2-1.

The Hawks pushed their advantage back to two early in the second half when Cenatiempo got on the end of a low cross across the front of goal from junior Lea Peterson (Upton, Mass.).

The Golden Bears cut the lead back down to one midway through the fourth quarter when a bouncing ball inside the arc fell to senior Madison Barron (Lebanon, Pa.), who found Klesyk open. Klesyk took a touch before firing it into the back of the net to get Western New England back to within a goal.

The Hawks scored their fourth of the afternoon with just under five minutes remaining in the game. Sophomore Hannah Palmer (Essex Junction, Vt.) played a low ball towards the net and found Foley, who tapped the ball past Golden Bear keeper Laura Dion (Cumberland, R.I.) to give the Hawks the 4-2 lead, which stood as the final score.

Notes
• Western New England outshot Roger Williams 14-12 and held a 9-7 edge in penalty corners.
• Clark is now within four points of 100 for her career, with 40 goals and 16 assists for a total of 96 points.

Up Next
Western New England (7-10) goes on the road to Endicott on Saturday afternoon for CCC action. Roger Williams (11-8) will host Salve Regina on Saturday afternoon.