Rindge, N.H. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Field Hockey team continued its push to the playoffs, defeating Franklin Pierce University by a score of 4-1, on Tuesday afternoon at Sodexo Field. STAC picked up their second staight victory to keep pace in the race for the eighth seed in the Northeast 10 Conference Tournament, which gets underway next week.
The Spartans improved to 7-9 overall and 6-6 in the NE10, handing the Ravens their seventh straight loss for an overall mark of 3-14 and 1-12 in the conference.
Jessie Hohenstein (W, 7-9) made six saves for the Spartans. STAC had the advantage in shots (14-12) and penalty corners (10-5).
How it Happened
St. Thomas Aquinas got onto the scoreboard late in the first quarter, as Hailey Galison deposited a shot into the lower-left corner of the net, past Ravens keeper MacKenzie Potvin to make it 1-0. The visitors in maroon and gold posted a 4-3 shots advantage through the first 15 minute of action.
No scoring would take place in the second quarter, as the teams would play exceptional defense to keep the match to a one-goal margin. Franklin Pierce would register four shots in the frame to STAC's two. STAC goalie Jessie Hohenstein would have to make three key stops in order to maintain her team's slim lead at the half.
STAC would come out of the break, picking up two early goals to push their lead to a three-goal differential. First, Erin Bacalles would intercept a Raven's pass and carry it up field where she would unleash a shot from the top of the circle, beating MacKenzie Potvin to make it 2-0. Just six minutes later, Lauren Cooper would make it 3-0 as she would steal another Franklin Pierce ball and rip a long shot from the top of the circle, blowing it by Potvin to give the Spartans a comfortable three-goal advantage.
In the fourth quarter, Hailey Galison would force another Ravens' turnover and take the ball into the circle, finding teammate Olivia Cerbo with a pass that she would fire to the back of the cage, making it 4-0 in favor of STAC. Franklin Pierce would finally break the shutout in the 51st minute, as off of a penalty corner pass by Annie Corbett, Rebecca Phillips would take a shot on net with the ball deflecting off of the glove of Spartan keeper Jessie Hohenstein, making its way to the back of the cage to make it a 4-1 contest. However, that would be all of the scoring the host Ravens would do, as time would run out on the contest to give STAC another important conference win.
Inside the Box Score
- Lauren Cooper's goal in the match now gives her the team lead in goals, with six.
- Hailey Galison recorded a goal (3) and an assist (4) in the match to give her 10 points on the season.
- Erin Bacalles and Olivia Cerbo also tallied goals on the afternoon for STAC.
- Six Spartans registered shots in in the contest; Cooper (5), Galison (3), Bacalles (2), Cerbo (2), Sam Van Der Valk (1) and Sofia Corominas Cuen (1)
Up Next
St. Thomas Aquinas closes out its 2021 home regular season schedule against Southern Connecticut State University on Thursday, October 28, with the scheduled start time set for 3pm at Spartan Field in Sparkill.