Field Hockey Falls at Clark 4-1

Worcester, Mass. – Powered by the third hat trick of the season from sophomore Mel Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.), host Clark won its second straight contest – this one a 4-1 victory over Framingham State in non-league field hockey action on Tuesday evening at Granger Field.

Melkonian's three goals give her 22 for the season, breaking the school record for tallies in a season of 21 set by Laura Stuto in 1990.

Already the holder of the school mark for points in a season which she set on Saturday, Melkonian added an assist to her totals, giving her 11 helpers this season, three shy of the school mark in that category.

The victory for the Cougars is their third in the last four games and moves their record to 8-4 overall, one win shy of their win total from 2009. The Rams, meanwhile, slip to 4-8 overall and have now lost five of their last six contests.

Clark got on the board in the game's fourth minute when Melkonian scored on an unassisted tally to give the Cougars an early lead.

A little more than a minute later the edge grew to 2-0 when Melkonian setup Erin Murphy (Boxboro, Mass.) for her first goal of the season.

The Cougars took a 3-0 lead into halftime following another Melkonian score with help from Maureen Coakley (Worcester, Mass.).

The lead moved to 4-0 when Melkonian recorded the record-breaking score at the 40:49 mark to notch her sixth career hat trick.

Framingham State denied Clark netminder Kate McGrath (Wilmington, Mass.) her second shutout of the season when Kristin Gentilli (Franklin, Mass.) scored off of a pass from Kaitlyn Raineri (Bellingham, Mass.).

McGrath only needed to make three saves for Clark, while Rams netminder Allesha Kenyon (Westford, Mass.) made 16 stops.

Clark will return to the field on Saturday when they visit WPI and Framingham State will play again on Friday when they visit Westfield State.

Release courtesy of Clark Sports Information.