STANDISH, Maine – Rhodes College (10-2, 4-1 SAA) toppled Saint Joseph's College (11-2, 5-0 GNAC), 4-0, in non-conference field hockey action at Mercy Field on Sunday afternoon. The loss snaps a program-record nine-game winning streak for the Monks.
With a 15th-minute goal from sophomore Christina DiFelice (St. Louis, Mo.), the Lynx carried a 1-0 lead into halftime and proceeded to pour on the pressure with three markers in the second stanza, two from junior Mary Rose Hazel (Fredericksburg, Va.) and another from DiFelice, to win their fourth straight and hand the Monks their first setback in over a month.
Rhodes, an institution the Monks had never faced – in any sport – prior to this afternoon, held sizeable advantages in shots (14-1) and penalty corners (9-2) in the victory. St. Joe's sophomore keeper Emma Astbury (Bridgewater, Vt.) made a pair of saves in the loss while Rhodes keepers Erin Bailey (Richmond, Va.) and Laura Eckelkamp (St. Louis, Mo.), who logged just over eight minutes of mop-up duty, went untested in the shutout effort.
Today's result marks the first time the Monks have been shut out since falling to Castleton State by a 3-0 score on October 5th, 2013. Saint Joseph's has not allowed as many as four goals in a contest since suffering a 4-3 setback at the hands of Plymouth State College on October 29th, 2013. This afternoon's loss also marks the first time the Monks have played a game without recording a shot on goal since losing to Colby College, 5-0, on September 23rd, 2009.
Rhodes has won nine of the last 10 games and outscored opponents by a collective 21-3 margin over the last three contests.
Saint Joseph's resumes play with a non-conference contest at Maine-Farmington starting at 3:15 PM on Tuesday. Rhodes, a program from Memphis, Tennessee, concludes a short New England trip with a game versus #2 Bowdoin College at 4:00 PM on Tuesday.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
