Penn’s Three Goals Lead MIT Past Wheaton, 5-1

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Playing for the first time in 10 days, the MIT field hockey team came up with a solid win at home this evening, downing Wheaton College, 5-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play. Sophomore Emily Penn (Elkridge, Md.) led the Engineers attack with three goals.

Penn wasted no time in giving MIT (7-2, 3-0 NEWMAC) its first lead of the night, slipping a shot into the cage just a minute into the contest on the first possession by the Engineers. Wheaton (6-5, 0-4 NEWMAC) had a number of chances in the opening minutes to get the equalizer, but senior goaltender Evie Kyritsis (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) saved one shot and the Lyons came up empty on four penalty corners over a four-minute span.

Junior Amelia Gage (Lebanon, N.H.) finally came up with the tying goal for Wheaton, taking a pass from sophomore Hailey Kohler (Flemington, N.J.) and finding the back of the cage a little more than 16 minutes into the contest. From there, however, the MIT defense limited Wheaton to just one more shot in the half. In goal, sophomore Riley Thompson (Fairfield, Conn.) kept the Lyons in the game, turning away three shots before Penn found the mark again at 26:28 to put the Engineers on top for good. With less then two minutes left in the half senior Molly McNamara (Auburn, Mass.) worked the ball into the arc and found classmate Morgan Gulliver (Stamford, Conn.) who found the mark for a 3-1 halftime lead.

MIT kept the pressure on at the start of the second half, holding Wheaton without a shot while getting off seven of their own over the first 13 minutes. Thompson came up with four saves in the span, but at the 42:17 mark she could not stop a rocket by Penn that put the Engineers up 4-1 and completed her hat trick. Eight minutes later junior Morgan O'Brien (Crofton, Md.) put the finishing touches on the victory, taking a pass from junior Rachel Rotteveel (Langhorne, Pa.) and beating Thompson to make it 5-1. From there the MIT defense, which held Wheaton to only six shots in the game, held the Lyons at bay to help the Engineers remain undefeated in NEWMAC play.

MIT will play again on Saturday, October 10 when the Engineers will host Clark University in a NEWMAC game at 11:00 a.m. Wheaton will be on the field again on Thursday, October 8 when it hosts Elms College at 7:00 p.m.