Box Score

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Sophomore Jenn Townsend (Watertown, Mass.) scored her first goal of the season in Nichols College's 2-1 loss at Mount Holyoke in non-conference field hockey action Thursday night at the MHC Turf Field.

Mount Holyoke (2-0) took the first lead of the game at 7:31 as freshman Anna Hartman (Montpelier, Vt.) made a play on a loose ball in traffic. Sophomore Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Conn.) started the play when she fired a shot toward the goal, which the netminder came out the stop. The ball slid behind the keeper to Hartman, who buried it to give the Lyons a 1-0 lead.
 
Both teams had chances throughout the remainder of the first half, but neither could take advantage. Nichols sophomore Molly Melanson (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) stopped four shots in the opening stanza while her counterpart, senior Anne O'Byrne (Newbury, N.H.), picked up two saves.
 
The Lyons doubled their lead 24 seconds into the second half. Senior captain Stephanie Pascual (Lawrence, Mass.) was awarded at penalty stroke at the 45:24 and fired a shot into the right corner of the goal.
 
Nichols cut its deficit to one less than a minute later on a deflection by Townsend. Senior Emily Widdison (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) got off a shot from just inside the arc that Townsend got a stick on and deflected over the keeper.
 
O'Byrne made several saves down the stretch to preserve the win, including a diving save off a shot by freshman Meghan Dombkowski (Sagaponak, N.Y.). Pascual followed with a defensive save on a shot by Townsend that would have evened the score.
 
Mount Holyoke held a 23-11 shot advantage in the contest and a 13-5 edge in penalty corners. O'Byrne moved to 2-0 on the season with six saves while Melanson slipped to 1-1 with eight stops on the night.
 
Nichols returns to action on September 11 when it welcomes Clark to Dudley for a 7 p.m. match at Vendetti Field. The Lyons host Castleton State on Saturday at 1 p.m.