Three First Half Scorers Powers Field Hockey Past Wheelock College, 4-1

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior goalkeeper Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.) made 13 saves and the Blazers had four players score a goal to highlight a 4-1 win over Wheelock College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) field hockey game at Leary Field.

With the win, Elms improves to 3-8 overall, 1-0 in NECC action, while Wheelock falls to 0-7 on the season, 0-1 in NECC play.

Elms netted three goals in the opening 35 minutes of action sparked by junior forward Kayla Narey's (South Hadley, Mass.) tip into the net on a shot by sophomore forward Meghan Goodrow (Sunderland, Mass.) that came following a penalty corner play in by junior midfielder Brianna Lyons (Canton, Mass.) at the 17:08 mark.

The Blazers extended their lead to 2-0 in the 30^th minute of play when sophomore defender Allie LaMonica (Salem, Mass.) was in position to rebound a shot by sophomore defender Ashley Reid (Enfield, Conn.) and drive the ball into the left side of the net.

Four minutes later, Elms increased the advantage to three when sophomore forward Emma Morgan (Wakefield, R.I.) delivered a feed to sophomore forward Jaclyn Soderquist (Enfield, Conn.) who drilled the ball into the back of the net to set the score at 3-0 at halftime.

The Blazers maintained its pressure in the opening minutes of the second half when freshman forward Kristina Kopyscinski (Agawam, Mass.) hammered home a deflected shot by sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Patient (Leicester, Mass.) to give Elms a 4-0 advantage.

Wheelock, which outshot the Blazers 22-12 in the contest, tallied its lone goal in the 68^th minute of action when Taylor Rogers (Essex, Mass.) tipped in a shot by Chelsey Ballard (Mansfield, Mass.) to set the final score at 4-1.

The Wildcats delivered 16 shots on goal, but Bonavita was able to turn away 13 of those shots and LaMonica and Reid each came through with a defensive save to help preserve the win for Elms.

Kopyscinski and Narey led the Blazers' offensive threat, totaling three and two shots on goal respectively, while Wheelock's Jenna Ghoman (Danvers, Mass.) and Despina Savvoulides (Norwalk, Conn.) added five and four shots on goal in the losing effort for the Wildcats.

Michelle Greene (Mansfield, Mass.) made four saves for Wheelock in the loss and Rogers added a defensive save.

Elms returns to NECC action on Tuesday, Oct. 9 when it travels to Bay Path College for a 4:00 p.m. contest with the Wildcats in Longmeadow, Mass.