STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (2-1) held off Wellesley College (1-2), 3-2, in a non-conference field hockey game at the SJC Athletics Complex on Monday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks controlled play in the first half and scored three goals in a matter of seven minutes in the opening quarter. Freshman forward Maya Waryas (Bellows Falls, Vt.) put the hosts on the board with an unassisted tally 5:50 into the game and assisted on a strike by fellow freshman Emilia Galimberti (Wolfeboro, N.H.) two minutes later.
St. Joe's capped the first-quarter scoring on a slick corner play, when senior Alexa Gutowski (North Conway, N.H.) converted a feed from classmate Molly McCluskey (Orono, Maine) to lift the Royal Blue to a 3-0 cushion with 2:43 left in the opening frame.
After an uneventful second stanza, Wellesley came out firing in the third and hit pay dirt in the 38th minute when senior Keller Gardner (Falmouth, Maine) cleaned up a rebound following a scrum in the circle. Less than two minutes later the visitors were awarded a penalty stroke and senior Lindsey Strong (Concord, Mass.) beat SJC sophomore keeper Kassidy Collins (Gardiner, Maine) with a shot to the lower right corner to make it a 3-2 game.
Wellesley outshot Saint Joseph's by a 10-5 margin in the third and fourth quarters combined, but the Monks managed to preserve the one-goal lead with the help of solid play by Collins, who made five saves in the closing 30 minutes.
TEAM STATS:
Wellesley held the lead in shots (17-15) while the Monks posted a slight lead in shots on goal (11-9) and penalty corners (5-4) in the rainy contest.
THE KEEPERS:
Collins turned away six shots in the victory while Wellesley junior goalkeeper Kyra Deehr-Lewis (Newtown, Pa.) made seven saves in the setback.
Two defensive saves were recorded in the non-conference tilt, as senior Morgan Dalton (Livermore Falls, Maine) registered her fourth of the year and Strong registered a defensive stop for the visitors.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory Saint Joseph's improves to 3-3 in the history of the series with Wellesley College and has now defeated the Blue in three-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2018 season.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's is off until Sunday, September 5th when the Monks host Rivier University in their 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener at 11:00 AM.
