Junior Samantha Escobar scored all three goals for the Pilgrims in Wednesday's loss to Wellesley
Field Hockey falls to Wellesley in home opener
Wellesley College’s Callie Lekas (Brewster, Mass.) netted three goals, including the game-winner, lifting the Blue Pride past the New England College Pilgrims 5-3 Wednesday afternoon in Henniker. With the win the Blue Pride remain undefeated on the season improving to 2-0 overall, while the Pilgrims fall to 1-2 on the season.
Lekas would get Wellesley on the board sneaking in a rebound off the pads of Mary Roux at the 16:40 mark. The two teams would battle through the remainder of the first half scoreless as Wellesley would head into halftime holding the slight 8-7 advantage in shots.
The Pilgrims would stretch their lead to 3-1 early in the second half as Escobar would put in a pass from Miranda Tinsman (Belgrade, Maine) off a corner just four minutes into the half.
The Wellesley offense would respond netting three goals in a span of six minutes, including the go ahead goal by Lekas at the 55:06 mark. Wellesley would tack on an insurance goal late as Sally Scudder (Delafield, Wisc.) would put in a nice cross from Kate Cushing (Danvers, Mass.) with just over a minute remaining in regulation.
In addition to Lekas, Wellesley was led by Kate Cushing who dished out three assists on the afternoon.
Picking up the win in goal for Wellesley was Sarina Sawyer (Wilmette, Ill.) who recorded 10 saves. In net for NEC was Mary Roux (Auburn, Mass.) who stopped 12 Blue Pride shots.
New England College will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 12 when they host conference opponent Regis College at 1:00 p.m. Wellesley will host Bowdoin College on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 4:30 p.m.
