STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's (6-2, 3-0 NAC) held off Castleton State (7-4, 1-2 NAC), 3-2, in North Atlantic Conference Field Hockey action at Lakeside Field on Sunday afternoon. Monks netminder Meaghan Johnson '12 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) made a career-high 20 saves in the important conference win.
The frenzy-paced contest featured 49 shots and 30 penalty corners, with the Spartans holding a 27-22 edge in shots and a 24-6 advantage in corners in a losing effort. Castleton earned 19 penalty corners in the second half alone.
St. Joe's senior Kayla Nowell (Bridgton, ME) and Castleton freshman Rachel Preusser (Craryville, NY) swapped goals in the first 20 minutes of play, but Sarah Bartell '12 (Exeter, NH) and Rachelle Messuri '14 (Atkinson, NH) scored in the 30th and 43 minutes, respectively, to put the hosts up by two with 37:51 to play.
The visitors outshot the hosts by a 15-6 margin in the first 23:24 of the second stanza and concluded the outburst with a goal from Kealy Chipman '13 (Bellows Falls, VT) to cut the Castleton deficit to 3-2.
SJC Coach Rupert Lewis called a timeout after the Chipman goal and it's likely his pep talk sparked the Royal Blue, who went on to control the pace of play for the remainder of the contest and held a 9-1 advantage in scoring attempts over the final 10-plus minutes.
The Spartans had a pair of penalty corners in the closing seconds, but neither bid yielded a shot.
Courtney Rague '11 (Old Orchard Beach, ME) was credited with an assist on the Nowell and Messuri markers and now has 15 helpers in her career – the fifth-highest total in program history.
Johnson is well on her way to eclipsing her season-high of 95 saves, which was achieved during her freshman season. Through eight contests this fall, Johnson has made 77 stops and, with 260 career saves, is inching her way to the #2 spot on the list. Currently sitting in second is Amanda Dennett, who made 275 saves during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Laura Lombardi '02, who made an astounding 666 saves in four years as the SJC keeper, is the Monks' all-time leader in saves.
Spartans goalie Siobhan Whittemore '11 (Springfield, VT) made 16 saves in the loss.
St. Joe's will host Colby College on Wednesday (7:00 PM) at Deering Memorial Stadium in Portland. Castleton hosts NAC rival Lasell College on Saturday, October 9th at 6:00 PM.
