STANDISH, Maine – Six different players scored to help Saint Joseph's College (2-0) cruise past Wellesley College (1-1), 7-0, in a non-conference field hockey contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Sunday.
THE LEAD
The Monks took command of the game early, as sophomore Alexandra Belaire (Greene, Maine) scored off a penalty corner with a hard shot at the 5:46 mark and junior Libby Pomerleau (Limerick, Maine) doubled the hosts' lead just over five minutes later with her third goal of the season.
Freshman Emma Rutledge (Alfred, Maine) notched her first collegiate goal off a Logan Champlin (Alfred, Maine) feed in the 25th minute to extend the SJC advantage to 3-0 going into halftime.
Ten minutes into the second stanza, senior Samantha Silva (Laconia, N.H.) scored her first of two tallies within a four-minute span while senior Arianna Kahler (Lisbon Falls, Maine) and freshman Meghan Hill (Brookline, N.H.) wrapped up the game scoring with strikes in the closing 12 minutes.
THE KEEPERS
SJC senior goalie Megan Baker (Gorham, Maine) made three saves to earn her 40th career victory and 21st collegiate shutout. Wellesley senior Maggie Connelly (Duxbury, Mass.) steered away five shots and allowed six goals in 59:54 between the pipes and was removed in favor of sophomore Janelle Sullivan (Philadelphia, Pa.), who yielded a goal and recorded a pair of saves in 10:06 of relief duty.
TEAM STATS
Saint Joseph's held considerable leads in shots (19-6), shots on goal (15-3), and penalty corners (11-5) on the afternoon.
NOTEABLE
- For Silva, the two goal game is the second of her career and first since October 18th, 2016 when she netted a pair in a win over Salem State
- Rutledge led all players with seven shots, including five on goal, and tallied a goal and two assists
- The Monks scored four goals off penalty corners in the victory
- Wellesley junior defender Kerry Wells (Portland, Maine/Deering) recorded a defensive save in the loss
- Prior to today, Wellesley had not allowed as many as seven goals since falling to Tufts University by a 9-0 score on October 6th, 2009
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
Today's victory is the Monks' first versus Wellesley College, a team St. Joe's has played in each of the last three seasons, falling 3-1 (9/29/15), 4-0 (9/3/16), and 2-1 (9/1/17).
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's is off until next Saturday when the team opens Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 12:00 PM contest at Anna Maria College. Wellesley also returns to action next Saturday with a home game versus UMaine-Farmington at 12:00 PM.
