STANDISH, ME – University of New England (6-0) handed Saint Joseph's (2-1) its first setback of the 2011 campaign with a 1-0 triumph over the Monks in a non-conference field hockey tilt at Lakeside Field on Wednesday afternoon. SJC keeper Meaghan Johnson '12 (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) recorded 16 saves in the hard-fought loss.
The match seemed destined for extra play as the in-state rivals dueled to a scoreless deadlock until the 67th minute when Nor'easters junior Laura Egounis (Boscawen, N.H.), who recently garnered TCCC Defensive Player of the Week honors, found the back of the cage off a Casey Clark ' 14 (Jay, Maine) feed for the eventual game-clincher.
St. Joe's notched a pair of scoring opportunities in the closing 30 seconds, including a shot by Brittany Locke '13 (Waterville, Maine) off a penalty corner as time expired, but both bids were blocked by defenders and neither reached UNE netminder Kaitlyn Warren '15 (Boscawen, N.H.).
For the Monks, the loss at home is just the seventh since the start of the 2007 season. Saint Joseph's has posted an incredible 31-7 (.816) record at Westerlea Way Field over the past four-plus campaigns.
Freshman Peyton Dostie (Standish, Maine) paced the Royal Blue with four shots – two on target – while Locke and Sarah Bartell '12 (Exeter, N.H.) attempted three shots apiece in the loss.
Nor'easters sophomore forward Hayley LaPointe (Topsham, Maine) notched nine shots with eight on goal and Warren recorded eight saves in what was her second shutout performance of the season.
With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 2-7 in the history of the series with UNE, which is off to its best start in program history.
Both teams will begin conference play on Saturday when Saint Joseph's plays at Simmons College at 10:00 AM and University of New England hosts Endicott College at 1:00 PM.
