Cote Propels Field Hockey Past Wheelock

BOSTON, MA - During a key New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) field hockey match-up, Becker College scored twice in the final 3:09 for a 2-1 victory at Wheelock College on Saturday at Winsor Field. The Wildcats, who slipped to 6-6 overall and 4-2 in league play, saw their four-game winning streak come to an end, a run that included a win at the two-time defending league tournament champion Hawks on Oct. 12. The visitors leapfrogged Wheelock to take over second place in the NECC, moving to 7-10 and 5-2.

In a rematch of last year's tournament title game, senior Kara Widdison (Greenfield, MA/Greenfield) scored in the 51st minute for the Wildcats, while classmate Meredith Race (Marion, MA/Old Rochester Regional) made three saves.

Junior Victoria Sirchia (Goshen, CT/Wamogo Regional) and sophomore Brooke Cote (Fitchburg, MA/Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical) each had a goal and an assist for Becker, while senior Nakita Gosselin (Springfield, VT/Springfield) made two stops.

Sirchia knotted the game with 3:09 remaining in regulation, lifting a point-blank shot into the center of the net after receiving the ball from Cote. The two reversed roles for the winner, with Sirchia's end-line pass slipping out front to Cote, whose shot from the doorstep put Becker on top with 1:37 left. Becker finished with a 13-7 advantage in shots, notching 11 in the second half, while each squad took eight penalty corners.

Wheelock broke the scoreless stalemate with fewer than 20 minutes remaining, as a three-shot flurry concluded with Widdison finding the back of the net for the sixth time this fall. Sophomore Taylor Rogers (Essex, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) picked up a rebound and dished off for the tally at 50:07.

With her team down, Cote tried catching up to a cross toward the right post in the 53rd minute before Race touched the ball out of harm's way, and the Wildcats looked to make it 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining, but Rogers' long breakout pass was knocked away by a rushing Gosselin as senior Milbrey Hendrix (Kennett Square, PA/Sanford School [DE]) provided pressure.

The teams combined to take only four shots in the opening half, as each fired off a pair on penalty corners. Sirchia's initial seventh-minute attempt was blocked before getting to the cage, and her try in the eighth minute sailed wide right. Sophomore Despina Savvoulides (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) took both shots for the Wildcats, each trickling left of the cage, in the 22nd and 29th minutes. The hosts held a slim 4-3 edge in penalty corners during the stanza.

Becker nearly got on the board in the 43rd minute, as Cote's cross was tipped by a defender into the circle before rolling past the left post with a Hawk bearing down on the cage.

Wheelock completes its regular season next week with three contests, including a trip to Nashua, N.H., to take on first-place Daniel Webster College on Tuesday. Game time is set for 4 p.m.