Field Hockey Edged 4-3 in Overtime Thriller

PAXTON, Mass.—Kelsey Harris scored in the fifth minute of overtime to lead the Wheaton College field hockey team to a 4-3 win against the AMCATS of Anna Maria College.

With the win, the Lyons remain undefeated and improve to 4-0, while the loss drops Anna Maria to 2-2. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The AMCATS held a 1-0 lead after the first half following a goal by freshman Sarah Coley (Worcester, Mass.) in the eighth minute, but a 3-2 scoring edge for Wheaton in the second half forced overtime. The tied score doesn't tell the full story, though, as Wheaton dominated the shots column 24-10 through regulation and doubled up Anna Maria 18-9 on penalty corners.

BIG BREEN

Anna Maria's senior goaltender Mary Kate Breen (Londonderry, N.H.) had an impressive day between the pipes as she totaled 15 saves, including 10 in the second half.

On the other end, Wheaton's Riley Thompson was forced to make just four saves over the contest as she faced just seven shots on net.

SCORING

First Half: Coley's goal was the lone score of the half. She was assisted by points-leader Kylie Dalbec (Portland, Maine.)

Second Half: After trailing for nearly 29 minutes, Wheaton wasted no time netting the equalizer following halftime, as Katie Peters connected on a pass from Amelia Gage just 53 seconds in the second half.

Anna Maria took the lead back less than a minute later, as Nicole Denver (Springfield, Mass.) scored on an assist from Kaitlyn Moran (Leicester, Mass.).

Thirteen minutes later, Wheaton evened the score again, this time at 2-2, as Gage scored the first of her two unassisted tallies in the 50^th minute. Eight minutes later, she scored the 3-2 go-ahead goal.

Anna Maria wasn't done, as Lauren Beauregard (Hubbardston, Mass.) scored on a pass from Kayla Lapierre (Worcester, Mass.) with just over three minutes left to force overtime.

Overtime: Harris's fourth shot-on-goal of the day proved to be the gamechanger, as the sudden-victory overtime goal sealed the win for Wheaton.

WHAT'S NEXT

Anna Maria hosts Worcester State on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. before traveling to New England College on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. tilt.