Springfield, Mass. — October 13, 2009 — Mary Kate Switchenko scored with 7:29 remaining in the first overtime to lead her Mount Holyoke field hockey team to a thrilling come-from-behind 2-1 victory tonight in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference contest at Springfield’s chilly Amos Alonzo Stagg Field. With the win, Mount Holyoke is now 6-5 overall, 2-3 in NEWMAC play. Springfield falls to 6-7 overall, and also 2-3 in league play.

It was quite the win for the Lyons over the defending NEWMAC Champions.

It began, however, with Springfield scoring the game’s first goal in rather short order. Sophomore forward Alexa Carlson (New Milford, Conn.) found the back of the net off a feed from senior co-captain Morgan Rein (Mystic, Conn.) just 4:55 into the match. It was to be the last goal SC would score all evening.

SC outshot Mount Holyoke 8-3 in the first half. But the mood changed in the second half as Mount Holyoke began to battle on more equal terms. The Lyons and the Pride each took six shots in that second half, with the Lyons taking advantage. Senior forward Katelyn Frick (Lafayette, N.J.) scored the tying goal at 14:37 into the second half. The assist was supplied by sophomore midfielder Taylor Hedges of nearby Longmeadow, Mass. The score remained that way into the first overtime.

It was Springfield that had much the better of it over the first seven minutes or so of the overtime session. SC outshot Mount Holyoke, 5-1. But it was the “1″ that proved to be the difference for the Lyons as Switchenko, a senior forward from Sturbridge, Mass. lifted the ball over the SC goalkeeper for a nifty goal at 7:31 into the OT.

For the game, Springfield outshot Mount Holyoke, 19-10. But MHC sophomore goalkeeper Katie Gibson (Charlotte, N.C.) made 18 saves, many on the spectacular side as SC really peppered the net, especially in the overtime session. Freshman Anna Calano (Columbia, Conn.) made seven saves for the Pride.

Up next, SC is at Wellesley Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12 noon.