Westfield State’s Sam Donohoe fires a shot against Mount Holyoke Wednesday. (WESTFIELD STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS PHOTO)
SOUTH HADLEY – Westfield State got six goals from senior captain Sam Donohoe (Pepperell) and Cassidy Harvey (Niskayuna, N.Y.) scored three of her five goals in a key second half stretch as the Owls held off Mount Holyoke College at the MHC Turf and Track Complex on a windy Wednesday evening, 21-16.
The Owls’ duo helped offset a career-best eight-goal performance from Lyons sophomore midfielder Abby Baldwin (Florence).
With the loss, the Lyons are now 2-2 overall, while the Owls improve to 2-0 on the year. Both sides secured 14 draw controls over 60 minutes of play, while the Lyons held a slight 36-35 edge in shots. Westfield State also picked up 20 ground balls compared to Mount Holyoke College’s 15.
Donohoe got the Owls off to a fast start, scoring the first two goals of the game and three of the first five as Westfield opened up an 8-2 advantage in the first on a 5-0 run, capped by a goal from Nicole Rinkus (Pembroke) at 17:25.
Baldwin found the back of the net for the fourth time for MHC in the first half with 9:14 on the clock, before a three-goal spurt, capped with consecutive goals from Stone, made it 11-8 Owls with 4:10 to play in the period. Westfield State then scored twice in a 10-second span to regain a 13-8 lead, before Baldwin converted a free-position chance with 2:36 left, bringing the Lyons to within four, but still trailing 13-9 at the break.
The Lyons opened the second half with goals from Stone and Brown to cut their deficit to a pair, before Westfield State pushed their lead back to five with a three-goal run over 5:07. Mount Holyoke College then went on a three-goal run of their own, with strikes coming from Baldwin, Reina Torrez-Miner (East Lansing, Mich.) and Brown, making it 16-14, Owls, with 15:46 to play.
Westfield State then delivered five-straight tallies, three of which came from Harvey, to grant the visitors a 21-14 lead with 7:51 on the clock. Mount Holyoke College would score the final two goals of the contest coming from Meryl Phair (Stockbridge) and Baldwin.
Sam Simonetty (Poughquag, N.Y./Arlington) went the distance in goals for the Owls to pick up her second win of the season. Rinkus added four goals and Cassidy Connolly (Woburn) three goals and an assist for Westfield.
Along with eight goals for Baldwin, first-year Lucy Stone (Peachtree City, Ga.) posted four points on three goals and one assist, including her first-career goal at Mount Holyoke College which she netted with 5:02 to play in the first half. Baldwin was also instrumental on the defensive end of the field, securing nine draw controls with two caused turnovers and three ground balls. In net, Mia Wysocki (Longmeadow) and Erin Foley (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) split halves, as Wysocki finished with five saves and took her second loss of the year.
The Owls will travel to Wheaton College on Friday. – Courtesy of Westfield State University Sports
