STANDISH, Maine – Sophomore Alexandra Belaire (Greene, Maine) scored on a penalty corner in the 87th minute to lift Saint Joseph's College (7-0) past Kean University (2-5), 2-1, in double-overtime on a balmy Sunday afternoon at the SJC Athletics Complex.
SUMMARY
After a scoreless first half, the Monks grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 45th minute on a well-executed corner play, as Belaire took a short pass from senior Arianna Kahler (Lisbon Falls, Maine) and belted a shot past Kean keeper Megan Houser (Reading, Pa.).
The Cougars tied the game just over 20 minutes later, as sophomore Melissa Way (Wantage, N.J.) scored off a Kayla Molnar (Jackson, N.J.) feed on a penalty corner at the 65-minute mark. With the Monks attempting to clear, the ball lingered near the goalmouth until Way steered a shot into the right corner of net.
Kean maintained offensive pressure for the remainder of regulation as well as overtime, as evidenced by the Cougars' 14-1 shots advantage during the final 20 minutes of play. Exhaustion seemed to play a factor during 7v7 overtime play and the Monks were rewarded a penalty corner at the 86:11 mark.
Twenty-five seconds later, Belaire scored on what appeared to be a carbon copy of the play from 40 minutes earlier. Senior defender Kayla Veilleux (Sabattus, Maine) was credited with the assist on the game-winning strike.
THE KEEPERS
Saint Joseph's senior Megan Baker (Gorham, Maine) made seven saves in the victory, including several acrobatic stops, and led the way with her intensity in net. Houser turned away three shots in a losing effort.
TEAM STATS
Kean, which advanced all the way to the Elite 8 in the 2017 NCAA DIII Tournament, held the advantage in shots (24-6), shots on goal (8-5), and penalty corners (16-5) on the afternoon.
NOTEWORTHY
- Today's contest featured a pair of teams that narrowly missed being ranked in the first Penn Monto/NFHCA DIII National Coaches Poll of the season – with 98 points, Saint Joseph's was the first team listed on the 'others receiving votes' section and was followed by Kean, which received 88 points
- The Cougars' goal snapped a shutout streak of 486 minutes and 35 seconds for the Monks – the last goal SJC allowed was scored at the 68:25 mark in a 2-1 NCAA Tournament loss to University of New England on November 8th, 2017
- For Belaire, the two-goal performance is the first multiple tally effort of her career
- With the win, Saint Joseph's is now 14-1 all-time at the SJC Athletics Complex and has outscored opponents by a collective 51-6 score in 15 games on the turf
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 2-5 all-time versus Kean University and snaps a four-game losing streak at the hands of the Cougars, who defeated the Monks by a 6-0 score in New Jersey last fall. Kean outscored St. Joe's by a 16-1 margin over the last four meetings.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's plays at Springfield College on Tuesday at 8:00 PM.