WORCESTER -- Lauren Dishong (Milford, NH) tallied a pair of goals and added an assist to lift host WPI to a 5-1 victory over Clark in a NEWMAC field hockey contest played Tuesday on a lovely fall afternoon on H.Carr Field at Alumni Stadium. 

The Engineers, winners of three straight and five of their last six games, are now 8-6 overall and 5-1 in conference action.  Clark slips to 6-9 on the season and 1-6 versus NEWMAC opponents. 

WPI began the game with a flurry of shots, eight in all, over the opening 6:30, including a combined six by Lauren Meinhold (Boxboro, MA) and Eliza Dutson (Woodstock, CT) but were continuously stonewalled by Cougar netminder Loren Root (Sherborn, MA).  The rookie goalkeeper made seven saves in the first quarter as the hosts registered all 13 shots and five penalty corners in the opening 15 minutes. 

The second quarter was back-and-forth with Clark being awarding the first three corners and collecting a trio of shots in the first 5:34. The Crimson and Gray quickly regrouped and broke through during the second of two consecutive corners when Dishong drilled home a feed from Meinhold at 27:02 for her third goal of the season and 14th of her career. 

The two teams combined for three goals in the first 3:09 after intermission.  Arie Lang (West Hartford, CT) and Rachel Drasser (Lunenburg, MA) put WPI ahead 3-0 with markers 1:14 apart off assists from Abigail Rauch (Jackson, NJ) and Dishong respectively before the visitors pulled one back on a great effort by Cairan Cubbage (Fredericksburg, VA), who had her original shot saved by WPI goalkeeper Nini Acquista (Longmeadow, MA), but the rookie stayed poised and belted home the rebound at 33:09.    

The hosts closed out the scoring with a pair of goals in the fourth quarter.  Dishong netted her second goal of the game when she intercepted a ball played by Lang towards the goalie and tucked it into the net at 48:23. Holly Mason (Plymouth, NH) got her name into the scoring ledger in the final minute when she redirected a pass from Natalie Mohn (Huntington, VT) with 56 seconds to go. 

Acquista was credited with three stops on the day for the Engineers while Root was outstanding in goal for the guests, accumulating a career-best 13 saves.  

The hosts enjoyed a 31-5 bulge in shots and a 14-4 edge in penalty corners.  Cubbage and Abbe Cravinho (Bellow Falls, VT) each notched two shots for the Cougars.

WPI continues its four-game homestand on Thursday, stepping out of conference to entertain Gordon beginning at 7pm.  Clark closes out its NEWMAC schedule on Saturday, hosting nationally-ranked Babson at noon.