PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Johnson & Wales University (12-3, 8-1 GNAC) tipped Saint Joseph's College (12-4, 8-2 GNAC), 2-1, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) field hockey action on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats took the lead early on a goal from Senior Claire Decker (Saco, Maine), who fired a shot into the back of the net on the first penalty corner opportunity of the afternoon.  The corner taken by junior Margaret Johnson (Bear, Del.) was passed to Jillian Miele (Wilmington, Mass.), who laid a pass off for Decker to shoot.

Johnson & Wales capitalized on another penalty corner in the first frame, when Johnson's original pass went to Decker.  Decker took two shots, one resulting in a save and a second resulting in a defensive save, but Johnson was able to follow up the rebound on the second shot for the second Wildcat goal.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Wildcats sustained pressure from the Monks, who had five penalty corners in the first six minutes of the final frame.  The Monks broke through the Wildcat defense late in the fourth quarter with a goal from Megan Quirion (Oakland, Maine), who redirected a cross from Aimee Adams (Gardiner, Maine) into the Wildcat net, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (10-7) and penalty corners (17-6) while Johnson & Wales posted a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal.

SJC starter Heather Rohr (Merrimack, N.H.) made one save and allowed a pair of goals in the first quarter while freshman Kassidy Collins (Gardiner, Maine) posted one stop in 45 minutes of play. JWU keeper made two saves in a complete-game effort.

Saint Joseph's closes out the regular season on Wednesday with a home conference game versus University of Saint Joseph at 5:30 PM.

THANKS IN PART TO JWU SPORTS INFORMATION