STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's College field hockey team registered yet another successful season last fall under the guidance of seventh-year Head Coach Rupert Lewis.

The Monks notched at least 12 wins for the fifth consecutive season with a 13-6 overall mark and captured the #2 seed in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Tournament with an 8-1 record in league play. St. Joe's made a great run at earning the program's first conference championship, gaining NAC tourney quarterfinal and semifinal wins en route to hosting the NAC title match against #5 Husson University at Mercy Field on November 5th. But it was not to be, as the upset-minded Eagles capped their improbable tournament run with a 2-1 penalty-strokes victory.

The NAC Championship appearance was the Monks' third in four years as a conference member and the Royal Blue fell short by the minimum in all three title contests, with two of the losses coming at the hands of the Eagles. One could not fault the juniors and seniors of the 2011 team for feeling an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, since the 2009 campaign ended in essentially the identical fashion with a 2-1 stroke-off loss to Husson in a semifinal matchup.

Although the loss was tough to overcome, an otherwise spectacular season should not be spoiled by the most recent result. St. Joe's paced the NAC in goals against average (0.95) for the fourth consecutive season and also led the conference in scoring margin (1.31 GPG), winning percentage (.684), save percentage (.886), and fewest goals allowed (19). Along the way, the Monks set new program single-season records for fewest goals allowed, goals against average, and save percentage.

The most impressive individual achievements came from senior goalkeeper Meaghan Johnson (Portland, Maine/Cheverus), who became the first player in the 17-year history of the program to garner All-America honors. Johnson, the 2011 NAC Defensive Player of the Year and National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) First Team All-New England honoree, ranked second in the country in goals against average (0.95) and ninth in save percentage (.882), obliterating the SJC single-season marks in both categories, during her senior campaign.

The season began with a pair of non-conference victories, as St. Joe's toppled Anna Maria College by a 3-1 margin on September 5th and claimed a 2-1 overtime win over Kean University five days later. Sophomore transfer TJ Cowin (Newry, Maine) netted all three goals in the season-opening win over the AMCATS and tallied the game-winner in the fourth overtime minute to lift the Royal Blue to a thrilling home-opening win over the Cougars.

Saint Joseph's suffered its first loss in a 1-0 setback at the hands of University of New England at home on September 14th. The contest appeared headed for extra play, but the Nor'easters scored in the 67th minute to earn the victory and bring a two-game losing streak to the Monks to a close. Johnson registered 16 saves in the losing effort.

St. Joe's went on to defeat NAC-rival Simmons College, 3-2, three days later with the help of two Brittany Locke (Waterville, Maine) goals - the first of her career - and nine saves by Johnson.

Due to inclement weather, a home contest versus Southern Maine was moved to Gorham as the Monks were set to participate in a rare event - a home game at a foreign site. The contest proved to be another defensive struggle, but the Huskies prevailed 1-0 in penalty strokes. Johnson was excellent in the net again, making 16 saves in the hard-fought loss.

Off to a respectable 3-2 start, the Monks proceeded to rattle off five straight conference victories with the win streak ranking as the second-highest in program history. St. Joe's outscored its opponents by a 19-4 margin and registered a pair of shutouts during the run.

The winning ways began with a 5-2 triumph over New England College, a new NAC member last fall, at Mercy Field on September 24th. Cowin filled the net again with three scores in the conference win. St. Joe's hosted Rivier College the next day and routed the Raiders, 8-0, as senior Sarah Bartell (Exeter, N.H.) notched her first NCAA hat trick and Cowin added two goals.

Saint Joseph's played host to Maine-Farmington on October 1st and prevailed, 1-0, in what was an old-fashioned defensive battle. Cowin scored her fourth game-winning goal of the young season off a perfect clearing pass from sophomore Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) in the 47th minute.

Up next was a preview of the 2011 NAC Championship, as the Monks played host to Husson on October 5th. Senior Amanda Sebastiao (Uxbridge, Mass.) proved to be the difference in this one after netting both SJC goals - her first collegiate two-goal effort - in a 2-1 victory.

The Monks were in an unfamiliar position in their next game, a home tilt versus NAC-rival Thomas College on October 8th, as the Royal Blue trailed by a goal after only two minutes of play. Cowin answered the bell yet again, tying the game in the 11th minute and providing the game-winner in the 54th minute to extend the SJC winning streak to five games.

Unfortunately, the streak would come to a close with a 1-0 loss at Salem State University four days later. The game, which was the start of a five-game away-stand, was scoreless and seemed to be on pace for extra play, but the Vikings found the back of the cage with just 28.8 seconds remaining in regulation to clinch the win.

Seniors led the way in a 4-0 over Lasell College in a conference contest on October 15th, as Bartell, Sebastiao, Renee Leach (Springvale, Maine) and Olivia Tourangeau (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) scored a goal apiece in a one-sided triumph over the Lasers.

The Monks went on to suffer two consecutive losses for only the second time in the last four seasons, as trips to Colby College and Castleton State College proved fruitless. Despite 18 saves by Johnson, St. Joe's was unable to provide any offense as the Royal Blue recorded just three shots on goal in a 2-0 loss to Colby on October 18th.

Four days later, St. Joe's traveled to Castleton State for an important conference contest. Trailing 4-0 after 58 minutes, the Monks rallied with three goals in an eight-minute span, but fell short to drop to 7-1 in NAC play. The loss ended what was a 25-game conference regular-season winning streak for Saint Joseph's. The Monks entered the afternoon having not lost to a NAC opponent during the regular season since falling to Maine-Farmington on October 4th, 2008.

St. Joe's closed out the regular season with wins over Colby-Sawyer College and Plymouth State University. Johnson was forced to make just one save as Stephanie Lombardo (Steep Falls, Maine), Bartell, Peyton Dostie (Standish, Maine), and Rachelle Messuri (Atkinson, N.H.) provided the offense in a 4-0 victory over Colby-Sawyer on October 23rd. For Saint Joseph's, the victory capped the five-game road swing.

After not having played at home for nearly three weeks, the Monks returned to Mercy Field for a non-conference contest versus Plymouth State University on October 26th. The Panthers entered the game with a stellar 14-1 record, but would leave the complex with twice as many losses as the Royal Blue netted a pair of early goals to gain a 2-1 victory. The win provided valuable momentum for the Monks heading into the NAC Tournament, which would begin just three days later.

As the #2 seed, Saint Joseph's hosted #7 Simmons in a NAC Tournament quarterfinal on October 29th. The Monks wasted little time establishing the lead with two goals in the first nine minutes and recorded an insurance goal early in the second stanza en route to a 3-1 win over the Sharks.

St. Joe's went on to host #3 New England College in a tourney semifinal matchup on November 2nd and the contest proved to have a much different look than the Monks' 5-2 win over the Pilgrims early in the season. Scoreless after the first half of play, Messuri lifted her team to a 1-0 edge with her third goal of the season just under two minutes into the second stanza. The Pilgrims mounted a frenzied offensive effort for remainder of the contest, but the Monks held on and would advance to the NAC Championship for the third time in four seasons.

On the other side of the ledger was fifth-seeded and two-time NAC champion Husson University, a team that advanced to the 2011 title bout after upsetting a pair of higher-seeded teams. The Eagles notched a penalty-strokes win over #4 Maine-Farmington in the quarterfinal round and slammed the door shut on top-seeded Castleton State with a 1-0 triumph over the Spartans in the semis.

The Monks trailed early in the title bout, as Husson found the back of the cage in the eighth minute to secure a 1-0 lead. Dostie answered 15 minutes later, tying the game at one-apiece - a score that would remain frozen on the board until penalty strokes revealed a winner 80 minutes later.

Two 15-minute overtime periods, featuring seven on seven play, preceded the dreaded stroke-off and both frames were packed with action. St. Joe's appeared to have clinched the title just 48 seconds into the first OT period when Cowin blasted a shot off a corner into the top right corner of the cage, but the goal was ruled as an illegal shot, since the first shot off a corner attempt must enter the cage at a trajectory of 18 inches or lower.

The non-score fueled the drama of the memorable afternoon, as the teams went on to swap scoring chances on odd-man rushes or breakaways on multiple occasions, only to see the bids denied with acrobatic saves by the teams' respective netminders. The marathon contest came to an end in the stroke-off, as Husson converted three of five attempts and St. Joe's scored twice in the same number of shots.

The loss signaled the end of NCAA field hockey for the Monks' six seniors: Bartell, Johnson, Leach, Sebastiao, Tourangeau, and Ashley Walukevich (Kingston, N.H.). The graduating group played a large role in the team's 55-22 (.714) record, including an otherworldly 27-2 (.931) mark, over the past four seasons. These six players set a new program record for graduating class winning percentage and tallied the second-most wins by a senior group in team history.

NOTEWORTHY INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

• Johnson went 13-6 with six shutouts and posted career-bests in GAA, SV%, and saves (142) while logging all 1393:03 of the team's minutes between the pipes as a senior. She closed out her career as the program's all-time leader in shutouts (17), victories (52), minutes (5166), goalkeeper games (74), and goals against average (1.23) and currently ranks second in program history in saves (442) and save percentage (.829).
• Bartell was named First Team All-NAC for the second consecutive season after tallying seven goals and six assists for a career-high 20 points during her senior campaign. She leaves the team ranked second in program history in games played (77), third in shots (142) and game-winners (8), fourth in points (60), and fifth in goals (21).
• Cowin collected First Team All-NAC mention after leading the Royal Blue in goals (15), points (32), shots (87), shots on goal (60), and game-winning goals (5).
• Dostie netted six goals and seven assists for 19 total points as a freshman and garnered NAC All-Tournament honors.
• Locke earned First Team All-NAC accolades after registering three goals and an assist for seven total points with a team-high three defensive saves as a junior.