Clarke's double-overtime game-winner pushes Lyons past host Cougars, 3-2 as Wheaton remains unbeaten in NEWMAC

October 10, 2006

WORCESTER, MA- Senior Shea Clarke (Bellingham, MA/Bellingham) was the star of the Wheaton College field hockey team's 3-2 double-overtime victory at Clark University Tuesday night, leading the Lyons to their sixth straight victory on a game-winner with just 1:28 left in the second extra session in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game at Granger Field.

Wheaton increased its season win total to 12 for the first time since 1991, the same year the Lyons last began their conference slate 4-0. Now 12-3 overall, the Blue and White is one win shy of its overall and conference wins records. Clark is 2-9 and 0-4.

Following a penalty corner in the second overtime, Clarke beat Cougar senior goalie Kaitlin Kelley (Guilford, CT/Guilford) with a shot to the far right corner of the cage for her third goal of the season. Junior Sara Dimick (Cumberland, ME/Greely) picked up the assist on the play. Clarke had a hand in all three Wheaton goals, including scoring the game's lone first-half tally with 17:11 on the clock. The Lyons had a chance to extend their lead early in the second half, but Cougar freshman Gloria Torres (West Hartford, CT/Hall) made a defensive save on sophomore Alisa Ardito's (Branford, CT/Branford) shot at the 48:26 mark.

The two teams eventually scored three goals within a seven-minute span. Clark finally got on the board when freshman Chelsea Proulx (Franklin, NH/Bishop Brady) lifted the ball past senior goalie Mary Catherine Boll (Columbus, IN/Miss Porter's School) at the 63:16 mark. The Lyons answered less than five minutes later on Dimick's team-leading 13th goal of the season following a scramble in front of the cage for a 2-1 lead. With time expired, senior Kim Whittington (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton) took a penalty-corner pass from classmate Ginny Mike (Franconia, NH/Profile School) to knot the score and send the game into overtime.

Boll finished with six saves and is now just one win shy of matching the single-season program record of 13 set by Maribeth Burke '87 in 1983. Kelley stopped a career-high 29 shots as Wheaton dominated the game's statistical categories, outshooting the Cougars, 47-17 while holding a 21-5 advantage in penalty corners.

Dimick also moved up a single-season chart with tonight's three-point performance, surpassing Maureen Reynolds '88 for second on the scoring list with 35. Moving past Reynolds' 34-point performance from 1986, Dimick needs 11 points to match Reynolds' 46-point showing in 1987.

The stage is set for Saturday's battle of conference unbeatens, as Wheaton travels to Springfield College with first place on the line. The Lyons and Pride will kick things off on Benedum Field at 4:00 p.m.

SCORING: 1st 2nd OT 2OT Final
Wheaton (12-3, 4-0) 1 1 0 1 3
Clark (2-9, 0-4) 0 2 0 0 2

1st Half: WC- Shea Clarke (Rachel Alfiero) 17:49

2nd Half: CU- Chelsea Proulx (Brooke Osgood) 63:16; WC- Sara Dimick (Clarke) 67:50; CU-Kim Whittington (Ginny Mike) 70:00

2nd OT: WC- Clarke (Dimick) 98:32

Goalie Saves: WC- Mary Catherine Boll 6; CU- Kaitlin Kelley 29

Shots: WC- 47; CU- 17

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