CASTLETON, VT - Julia Ostrowski '10 (Albany, NY) scored with three minutes remaining in the first overtime to lift Saint Joseph's (11-2, 5-0 NAC) to a 4-3 victory over Castleton State (4-9, 4-1) in a rematch of the 2008 North Atlantic Conference Field Hockey Championship on Saturday afternoon.

St. Joe's led 3-2 in the waning seconds, but the Spartans were awarded a penalty corner with 14 seconds remaining and netted the tying goal with no time on the clock. Castleton midfielder Molly Fraher (Goshen, CT) proceeded to send the game to overtime with a goal to the middle of the SJC net from the center of the circle. Sarah Flore (Springfield, VT) was credited with an assist on the dramatic play.

The two teams combined for five first half goals, but played an entire 35 minutes without scoring until Fraher's heroics.

Courtney Nolan (Spring Lake Heights, NJ) broke a scoreless tie 8:03 into the contest. Nolan gathered a push into the circle from Stephanie Paproski (Newtown, CT) and beat Monks' goalie Meaghan Johnson '12 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) just inside the left corner of the goal for her sixth marker of the season. Ostrowski netted the equalizer nine minutes later, converting a Jillian Kimball '10 (Albany Township, ME) assist. Less than three minutes later Fraher made it 2-1 Castleton, blasting a shot past Johnson off a Nolan corner, which was touched over by Jessica Scott (Poultney, VT). A pair of Kayla Nowell '11 (Bridgton, ME) goals gave the Monks a 3-2 lead.

Johnson was nothing short of superb in the goal for St. Joe's, stopping 14 shots including seven in the second half and four in the overtime period. All four of Johnson's overtime saves came in succession just two minutes into the extra frame. First, the sophomore stopped a Fraher blast from the top, followed by Fraher's rebound attempt, and a push from Flore. On the ensuing corner, Johnson once again stoned a Fraher drive from straight on.

Sobhan Whittemore (Springfield, VT) was likewise solid in goal, stopping seven shots. Perhaps her finest play came in the overtime frame when she forced Ostrowski away from the goal, and deftly kicked the ball over the endline and out of harm's way.

Castleton State defeated Saint Joseph's, 4-3, in last season's championship contest.

Saint Joseph's will travel to Union College tomorrow afternoon for a 1:00 PM non-conference match-up. Castleton will play host to Western New England College tomorrow afternoon a 2:00 PM.

St. Joseph's (Me.) (11-2, 5-0 NAC) vs. Castleton (4-9, 4-1 NAC)
Date: Oct 17, 2009  Attendance: 60
Weather: Clear and Cool

Goals by period       1  2 OT  Tot
----------------------------------
St. Joseph's (Me.)..  3  0  1 -  4
Castleton...........  2  1  0 -  3

SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.   8:03 CST Courtney Nolan (6) (Stephanie Paproski) - passed into circle shot across net into left corner
  2.  19:26 SJMFH Julia Ostrowski (14) (Jillian Kimball) - shot from the middle of the circle past goalie
  3.  22:13 CST Molly Fraher (6) (Jessica Scott;Courtney Nolan) - pass across circle ripped into net
  4.  25:21 SJMFH Kayla Nowell (12) (Jillian Kimball;Julia Ostrowski) - pass off corner then into middle of circle sniped into net
  5.  26:27 SJMFH Kayla Nowell (13) (unassisted) - blasted across cage into left corner
  6.  70:00 CST Molly Fraher (7) (Sarah Flore) - rocketed into net from middle of circle with no time remaining
  7.  82:01 SJMFH Julia Ostrowski (15) (unassisted) - loose ball in circle put in net

Shots: St. Joseph's (Me.) 13, Castleton 23
Saves: St. Joseph's (Me.) 14 (Meaghan Johnson 14), Castleton 7
(Siobhan Whittemore 7)