10/27/2007
NEWMAC TOURNAMENT:
Field Hockey Concludes Season with 3-0 Loss to Wheaton College

NORTON, MA - The sixth-seed Clark University field hockey team concluded its season with a 3-0 loss to third-seed Wheaton College in the first round of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Clark Field.

Wheaton, which improved to 13-5, advanced to face second-seeded Wellesley College in a 2:00 p.m. semifinal next Saturday at Babson College. The Cougars finished their season at 7-10.

Senior Lyndsie Ryalls (Branford, CT/Branford) scored just 6:01 into the game for the game-winner. Junior Alisa Ardito (Branford, CT/Branford) crossed from the right endline into the middle toward Ryalls, who scored on the game's initial shot. A little more than 10 minutes later, sophomore Alex Block (Saratoga, CA/Saratoga) scored following a long penalty-corner sequence when her shot at the left post went high above freshman keeper Katelyn McGrath (Wilmington, MA/Wilmington) and into the right side of the net at 16:29.

At halftime, Wheaton held advantages of 7-0 in shots and 4-2 in penalty corners before tallying one last time in the second stanza. In the 40th minute, McGrath stopped a hard shot near the middle of the circle, but the Cougars were ultimately called for an infraction that led to Wheaton being awarded a penalty stroke at 39:46. Freshman Sarah Crowley (Worcester, MA/Bancroft School) entered the game to take the stroke and tucked a shot into the left side of the net for her first collegiate marker.

Wheaton outshot Clark, 11-6 in the second half while holding a 6-5 edge in corners, and the Lyons finished the contest having taken 18 of the game's 24 shots and with a 10-7 corners advantage. Freshman Cameron Abel (Windham, NH/Salem) made two saves for the Lyons, while McGrath had six stops.