FIELD HOCKEY: GNAC Tournament Quarterfinal Summary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of CSC Athletics Communications

NEW LONDON, N.H. – With 12 seconds remaining in the first overtime-period junior Aoife Daly (Harwich,  Mass.) did what she did all year scoring her 18th goal of the year and propelling the Chargers into the Great Northeastern Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semi-Finals. The #1 seed Chargers will now host the #5 seed Elms College in the Semi-Finals of the GNAC Tournament following the Blazers 2-1 double-overtime upset of Simmons College on Saturday. The game will be held on Wednesday November 3rd at 3PM.

• Colby-Sawyer dominated possession throughout the day owning a 7-1 shot differential in their favor heading into halftime with a 7-0 advantage in penalty corners. 
• The scoring woes continued for the Chargers mustering 21 shots and 17 penalty corners in regulation time with none hitting the back of the cage. 
• In the overtime period both teams went back and forth. The AMCATS registered the first scoring opportunity in the extra frame as first year Sabrina Lippold (Windham, N.H.) picked up her first collegiate defensive save at the right time stopping a shot by Meghan Sonia. 
• The Chargers finished off Anna Maria after first year Emma Webster (Campton, N.H.) had a centering pass deflected that found the stick of first year Courtney Larson (Auburn, Maine) who passed to Daly who backhanded the game-winner. 

Coaches Corner
"This team battled hard today and overcame tough conditions", said head coach Emily Dewdney. "I'm proud of them for sticking together. Now the focus turns to Wednesday."

Stats & Figures

• Daly found the back of the cage to end her three game scoreless streak to add to her single-season program record with goal number 18 on the season. 
• Junior Lauren Wilkinson (Lynn, Mass.) totaled a four save shutout. This marks Wilkinson's third shutout in the past four games.
• The 21 penalty corners for the Chargers are the second most this season only trailing the 22 corners on October 9th whent Colby-Sawyer defeated Albertus Magnus by a 11-3 final.

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications

STANDISH, Maine - #3 Saint Joseph's College (14-4) blanked #6 Lasell University (7-11), 4-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Field Hockey Tournament Quarterfinal at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the win, Saint Joseph's moves on to the semifinal round of the GNAC tourney and will face off against #2 Johnson & Wales on Wednesday at 4PM. For Lasell, the loss signals the end of the 2021 campaign.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
St. Joe's possessed the ball for the better part of the contest but would not score until the 25th minute, when senior Emma Rutledge (Alfred, Maine) tipped in an Aimee Adams (Gardiner, Maine) shot off a penalty corner attempt.

Junior Alexa Gutowski (Conway, N.H.) made it a 2-0 game four minutes later when she hit pay-dirt off a feed from Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine) in the crease on another penalty corner bid.

The Monks kicked off the second half scoring at the 34:50 mark when Rutledge and Adams connected again on a penalty corner attempt.

Freshman Abbie Jacques (Mount Vernon, Maine) completed the scoring docket when she netted her eighth goal of the season with just 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Junior Megan Quirion (Oakland, Maine) was credited with an assist on the play.

MILESTONE MET:
With her goal scored at the 24:25 mark, Rutledge became the third player in SJC field hockey history to score 50 career goals. Only two players, Libby Pomerleau '20 (65) and Kayla Nowell '11 (57) have scored more goals during their SJC career.

TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (25-4), shots on goal (15-3), and penalty corners (17-4) in the tourney triumph.

THE KEEPERS:
SJC freshman goalie Kassidy Collins (Gardiner, Maine) turned away all three shots she faced in the shutout performance while Lasell netminder Courtney Tello (Nashua, N.H.) posted 11 saves in the losing effort.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 22-4 in the history of the series with Lasell University and has now defeated the Lasers in seven-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2017 season.

Courtesy of Simmons Athletics Communications

BRIGHTON, Mass. – Elms (9-8) avenged a 2-0 shutout on their home turf in late September with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) upset, defeating fourth seed Simmons (10-6), 2-1, on a rain soaked Saturday morning.

The two teams battled back-and-forth throughout a scoreless first quarter. Simmons control the majority of the game, keeping possession in the Blazers defensive zone. It wasn't until midway through the second quarter when Elms finally broke up the stalemate. Carissa Ramirez connected with Melanie Ward to give the Blazer a 1-0 advantage.

It appeared as if the Blazers would be able to hang on for the win as they kept the pressure the Sharks, beating out Simmons to loose balls throughout the match. But with six minutes to play in regulation, following a scramble in front of the net, junior Maddie Beckwith buried the equalizer home to force overtime. 

Following a scoreless overtime period that forced a second overtime. Two minutes into the second overtime, Ramirez registered the game-winner in the 78^th minute to send the Blazers to the GNAC Semifinals. The Sharks close out the season at 10-6 overall.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• Junior Maddie Beckwith scored the equalizer in the 54^th minute for her sixth goal of the season.
• Fellow junior, goalkeeper Emma Sheehan registered four saves in 78 minutes.

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications

PROVIDENCE, R.I. –The Johnson & Wales Field Hockey team defeated the Raiders of Rivier University on Saturday afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Quarterfinal, earning their first postseason victory since 2016.

The Wildcats opened up the scoring just over five minutes into the game, when a penalty corner taken by Margaret Johnson (Bear, Del.) found Jillian Miele (Wilmington, Mass.) at the top of the zone.  Miele laid the ball off to Haley Schneider (Freehold, N.J.), who fired a low shot into the net for the opening tally.

After a scoreless remainder of the first half, the Wildcats came out with consistent pressure in the second half, scoring on a penalty corner for the second time in the match.  After a lay off from Miele, Claire Decker(Saco, Me.) fired a pass that was redirected into the net by Katie Sloan (Ellicott City, Md.) for the second Wildcat goal.  Late in the third frame, Johnson took a restart outside of the zone and fired a shot towards the near post that snuck past the Raider goaltender, extending JWU's lead to three.

JWU added one more goal in the late stages of the game from first-year Izzy Ward (Plymouth, Mass.).  She received a pass from Darian Shepard (West Brookfield, Mass.) in front of net and slotted home for the fourth Wildcat goal. 

In net for JWU, Madison Flaxington (Lincoln, R.I.) saved the one shot that she faced on goal, preserving the clean sheet.  Katie Olsen made 12 saves for the Raiders.

The Wildcats will host the St. Joseph (Me.) Monks in the semifinals on Wednesday, with a time TBD.