Field Hockey Drops First Contest of 2022 Season

BOSTON, Mass. (September 10, 2022) – The Western New England field hockey team traveled to No. 20 Massacheustts Insitute of Technology of Saturday afternoon and were defeated by the Engineers by a final score of 5-1 behind a hat trick of goals from Paige Forester to lift MIT over the Golden Bears. 

Records:

• Western New England: 2-1
• No. 20 MIT: 4-0

How it Happened:
MIT took possession of the ball early and was able to find the back of the net just 2:51 into the first quarter. Western New England's Zoey Wexler made a save at the 2:43 mark, though the ball would be loose after the save and tucked home by MIT's Eva Oppenheim to give the Engineers a 1-0 lead. MIT would capitalzie on their second goal of the game off a rebound scrum in front of the net, similar to their first goal of the game after Bailey Mcintyre's shot was saved by Wexler, MIT's Paige Forester would follow the shot and bang in a rebound to give MIT a 2-0 lead. Western New England's best chance of the quarter came with just over five minutes to play when Carly-Anna Barba sent in a penalty corner which was received by Taylor Klesyk, who took the shot and hit the post. WNE would take just two shots, though held MIT to five, with Wexler making three saves. 

The second quarter featured much back and forth between the two schools, though MIT would get the best scoring chances and capitalzie twice in the second quarter to double their two-goal lead. Paige Forester would knock home a ball from the middle of the arc just four minutes into the quarter before she followed up with her third of the afternoon taking a penalty corner and firing another shot into the goal to give MIT a 4-0 lead. WNE would take two shots in the second quarter, one off and one on target. Jordan Dattero would make a lone save with 23 seconds to play in the second quarter on Klesyk holding WNE off the scoreboard. 

MIT would take control in the third quarter, holding WNE without a shot or penalty corner. The Engineers would take four shots in the third quarter, putting one goal into the back of the net, while Wexler would come away with four saves. MIT's Alice Zehner would collect the lone goal of the quarter. 

Western New England would score early in the fourth quarter, picking up their first of the contest when Emily Campbell found a loose ball inside the box and jammed it home, picking up her third goal of the season. Although the momentum was on the side of Western New England, the Golden Bears would be unable to find the back of the net again, falling to the number 20 team in the country by a final score of 5-1. 

Inside the Lines:

• Sophomore goalkeeper Zoey Wexler made nine saves for Western New England in the losing effort. 
• Taylor Klesyk led all Golden Bears with four shots, putting two on goal. WNE took four total shots on goal, putting seven shots together in total. 
• MIT was led by Paige Forester, who scored three times for the Engineers taking six shots, putting five on goal. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE returns home and welcomes Connecticut College to Golden Bear Stadium on Tuesday, September 13 at 7:00 pm. 
• MIT continues their mini two game home stand by squaring off with Tufts University on the same date at 6:00 pm.