CASTLETON, VT – Saint Joseph's (9-5, 7-1 NAC) suffered a 4-3 loss to Castleton State College (10-7, 8-0 NAC) in a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) field hockey game on Saturday.
Spartans forward Kealy Chipman (Bellows Falls, Vt.) registered her fourth hat trick of the season, and the Spartans withstood a late-game charge that saw the visiting Monks net three scores in the final eight minutes of play.
With the top seed in the upcoming NAC tournament hanging in the balance, and both teams toting identical 7-0 NAC records, the game had must-win feel from the opening whistle.
Chipman put the Spartans on the board at the 1:28 mark, converting a Rachel Preusser (Craryville, N.Y.) assist into her 16th goal of the season for the early 1-0 lead. Preusser carried the ball down the left side before making a centering pass to Chipman who deposited it just inside the far post.
Castleton nearly made it 2-0 with 20 minutes left in the first half, but a pair of fantastic saves by Meaghan Johnson (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) kept the Monks within striking distance. Johnson knocked a Preusser attempt away with her blocker, before recovering in time to make a perfect stick-save of Shawna Pinsonault's (Brownsville, Vt.) attempt on the rebound.
Chipman pushed the lead to 2-0 with 21:32 remaining in the contest, following up on three-straight saves by Johnson. Brynn Cayia (Berlin, Vt.) took the initial shot off a Castleton penalty corner, that Chipman misdirected and Johnson turned away. Mercedes Maltbie (Warrensburg, N.Y.) and Blake Wardwell (Bridgewater, Vt.) saw their attempts likewise turned away by Johnson, but Chipman made the fourth attempt stick.
Chipman finished off the trick with 16:46 remaining, blasting home a hard cross from Maltbie.
The Monks had back-to-back penalty corners with 15:30 remaining, but could not get a shot on the cage, and Castleton regained the advantage. Four minutes later, Preusser put home her 18th of the season to push the lead to 4-0. What seemed to be an insurance marker on a nifty give-and-go between Preusser and Cayia proved to be the game-winner as the Monks answered with three-straight goals.
Peyton Dostie (Standish, Maine) put the Monks on the board with less than eight minutes remaining, pouncing on a loose ball in the circle after a pass into the striking circle was redirected off Castleton goalie Bridget Dusha (Greenwich, N.Y.).
Seven minutes later TJ Cowin (Newry, Maine) scored her 13th of the season, one-timing home a Melanie Allen (Jackson, N.H.) centering pass.
Renee Leach (Springvale, Maine) finished off the Saint Joseph's scoring, converting a Cowin assist. The goal came with no time remaining as the Monks played out a penalty corner and Leach was able to stuff home a Cowin blast on the far post.
Johnson finished with nine saves in the loss, while Castleton's Dusha stopped one.
Castleton held a whopping 21-9 advantage in shots and both teams made 21 penalty corner attempts in the NAC field hockey heavyweight bout.
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.
With the result, St. Joe's falls to 5-5 in the history of the series with Castleton State. The Monks had not fallen to the Spartans since suffering a 4-3 overtime loss in the NAC Championship game on November 8th, 2008.
Both clubs play conference opponents tomorrow at 1:00 PM as Saint Joseph's plays at Colby-Sawyer (3-12, 1-7 NAC) and Castleton plays host to Husson University (8-7, 4-4 NAC). The contests count as 2011 regular-season finales for both teams.
