Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. - Senior Emily Widdison (Greenfield, Mass.) registered two goals just 3:39 apart midway through the second half to give visiting Nichols College a 3-2 win over WPI Tuesday night in non-conference field hockey action at Alumni Field.

The Engineers (4-5) struck first at 18:58 of the first half on a nifty give and go. Amy Misera (Hunt Valley, Md.) hit a streaking Caroline Mazzola (Harvard, Mass.) on the left wing. Misera then broke to the net and Mazzola delivered a perfect feed on the stick of Misera, who beat the Nichols goaltender for her second goal of the season giving WPI a 1-0 lead.

The Bison (6-3) – who have won two-straight against the Engineers - leveled the score 1-1 at 33:16 on a goal by sophomore Avery Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.). The ball bounced around in front of the WPI net and Orszulak sent home a rebound for her fifth goal of the year.

WPI had a great scoring opportunity in the 47th minute when the ball trickled passed the Bison goaltender and struck the post before it was cleared away by a Nichols defender. Less than a minute later, WPI again took a one goal lead as Mary-Lee Barboza (Rochester, Mass.) pushed home a rebound following a defensive save by freshman Victoria Utter (Stafford Springs, Conn.) at 47:21.

Widdison took over from there, rocketing a blast from the top of the circle into the back of the cage to even the match at 50:39. Later, she poked home a rebound at 54:18 for what proved to be the game-winner. The senior now has a team-best 13 markers this fall.

Sophomore Molly Melanson (Simsbury, Conn.) was credited with the win in net for the Bison. The sophomore turned away seven shots on the night. Liz Dufresne (Worcester, Mass.) made six stops for WPI over the first 59:38 while Lauren Puishys (Oxford, Mass.) was not called upon to make a save in the last 10:22 of action. Senior Madison Shugrue (Worcester, Mass.) had an outstanding night for the hosts, collecting three defensive saves.

The game was evenly matched as the visitors had a slight 19-16 bulge in shots while the Engineers enjoyed a 10-9 edge in penalty corners.

Both teams return to action with conference matchups on Saturday. WPI travels to MIT for a 1 p.m. start while Nichols hosts Gordon at noon.

Courtesy WPI Athletics