Worcester, MA- Worcester State Field Hockey played their second home game of the season Saturday afternoon in an inner-city battle with Clark University. Defense was the name of the game today as each team worked to find the back of the net at Coughlin Field.
The first half of the game saw Worcester on the defensive with the steady stream of chances by the Cougars. For the first 11 minutes of action Clark possessed the ball in their offensive end with 4 separate attempts to find the net. Sophomore Natalya Morin found the first opportunity for the Lancers with a quick redirect toward the cage that travelled just wide of the cage. Worcester State kept the pressure up for the rest of the quarter with additional attempts by senior Carly Duff and junior Grace Adams. In the second quarter senior Karalyn Jones, who had a hat trick last Thursday against Anna Maria, began to find her rhythm on the field with the only three attempts of the quarter for the Lancers.
The second half saw the intensity pick up as each team fought to find that goal to break the stalemate of the first half of play. Just five minutes into the start of the third quarter Morin received a crisp pass across the front of the cage from Jones to one touch the ball just past the goalie left side. Clark felt the pressure and looked to even the score quick with an onslaught of offensive pressure for the remainder of the third quarter with 10 attempts on cage that Sophomore goalkeeper Madison Ferrara and graduate student Ali Roy each combined for saves to keep the score 1-0 at the end of the third. Worcester maintained the intensity into the start of the fourth with shots by Adams before two back-to-back green cards on senior Emily Saucier and Adams forced Worcester to play down. The Cougars capitalized on the lopsided field when Ciaran Cubbage tapped in the shot off a pass from Greer McCarty. With one more player released from the green card Worcester swiftly moved down the field to answer. Just 30 seconds after the Clark goal, a corner was called in the Lancers favor that put senior Molly Cutting in the perfect position to grab the ball out of a scramble in the circle to put Worcester State back up 2-1. That score would eventually do it for the Lancers who held on to close out the game and come away with their second win of the season.
Ferrara had a strong performance in the cage tonight with 8 saves on the day and help from Roy with two defensive saves in the strong backfield battle game. Jones led the team with six shots and one assist, with Morin tallying an additional three shots and a goal. Cutting was one shot for one goal in the afternoon.
Worcester State now moves to 2-0 on the season while Clark falls to 0-2. The Lancers are back in action next Thursday, September 8 when they travel to Springfield for a 7pm start.