Box Score

PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- Senior Shara Robertson (Natal, South Africa) tallied her second goal of the contest with 3:39 gone in the second overtime period to give the third seed, Mount Holyoke College, a 2-1 victory over second-seeded University of New England in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Field Hockey Championship, contested Saturday afternoon at Plymouth State University's Arold Field.

The Lyons (15-5) advance to Sunday's title game against the No. 1 Panthers, who advanced to the final with a 4-1 win over No. 4 Bridgewater State University earlier in the day.

UNE's record-setting season comes to an end with an overall mark of 18-4 -- two more wins than the previous single-season record of 16 set in 2009. The Nor'easters also received the University's first national ranking in any sport, after reeling of a program-best 13 victories to open the year.

After the teams played an entire extra 15-minute session to no decision, Robertson received a pass from sophomore Stephanie Slysz (Hatfield, Mass.) in the 89th minute to score the game-winner from right in front of the goal.

The forward had netted her 23rd goal of 2011 on a rebound with 3:39 to go in regulation, leveling the game at 1-1. The score came during a stretch when Mount Holyoke applied heavy pressure to get back into the contest, and accumulated a large amount of its final advantages in shots (18-8) and penalty corners (21-8).

Big Blue first-year goalie Kaitlyn Warren (Boscawen, N.H.) came up with a pair of keep stops down the stretch to keep the Lyons from getting more, as part of her eight saves in the game.

UNE went ahead in the 47th minute when senior Bree Tupper (Winthrop, Maine) drilled in her 11th marker of the season. It was the 40th of her career, placing her second on the all-time list.

Early on, neither squad allowed much in the form of quality scoring opportunites, and a combined seven shots were attempted in the opening 35 minutes.

The second half started in a similar manner, until Tupper broke through to up her four-year point-total to 99 -- a number good for third in program history, just behind the 101 of classmate Michelle Oswald (Jay, Maine). Oswald ends her career as the program's leader in assists (25) and ranked third in goals (38).

"The two of them [Tupper and Oswald] have had a lot to do with our program starting to get some recognition on the national stage, and will certainly be missed" commented head coach Danielle Ryder. "This was a great team to have for my first season -- they all worked really hard, and gained a lot of success with that effort. We look forward to building on the accomplishments of this year with the many returning players that will be back next year."