Garden City, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Field Hockey team saw its post-season run come to a close with a 4-3 loss to Adelphi University in the Northeast-10 Championship Quarterfinals in at Motamed Field. The Spartans' outstanding 2022 season comes to a close with an 10-9 record, while Adelphi improves to 11-8 and advances to the NE-10 Semifinals.
In first quarter action, the visiting Spartans were able to get on the scoreboard first, in the ninth minute of the match, as a penalty corner insert by Jasmijn Van Drunen found the stick of teammate Sofia Corominas Cuen. Corominas Cuen then sent a slick pass to Flootje Beune, who fired it past keeper Amanda Montiel to give STAC a 1-0 advantage.
The Spartans had an opportunity to double their lead in the 13th minute on a penalty stroke opportunity by Nicola Van Vuuren, but Montiel made a sprawling stop to keep the disadvantage to only one.
Moments later, Adelphi would strike for back-to-back goals, when first, a STAC turnover would result in Amanda Lee poking a rebound attempt home, past goalie Jessie Hohenstein to knot the score at 1-1. Then, in the closing seconds of the opening quarter, a Panthers penalty corner attempt allowed Lee to find Kaylee Deleva for a shot to the back of the cage, beating Hohenstein to give the hosts the 2-1 lead to end the first stanza.
STAC would rally to re-tie the score within seconds of the start of the second quarter. Kelly Johnson put home the first of two goals on the evening on a wicked, high back-hand shot, beating Amanda Montiel to even things at 2-2. The stalemate would be short-lived however, as Adelphi went back up 3-2 on an Emiline Biggin tally that dribbled to the back of the net just under a minute after the Spartans goal.
No further scoring would take place in the final 13 minutes, as both teams retreated to their respective benches with Adelphi holding the slim one-goal advantage at halftime.
An insurance goal for the Panthers came in the 44th minute of the third quarter, when following several AU penalty corner attempts, Emiline Bigglin rifled a shot on net, which was initially stopped by Jessie Hohenstein. Unfortunately, Kaylee Deleva was able to find a loose rebound and score what would eventually be the game-winning goal to put the score at 4-2.
The fourth quarter saw the Spartans put on a fierce rally attempt and Kelly Johnson would get the maroon and goad within one with 11 and a half minutes left to play in the match. On another terrific penalty corner insert by Jasmijn Van Drunen, an initial shot was blocked by the Adelphi Defense, with the ball rebounding back to the stick of Sam Van Der Valk. Van Der Valk sent a laser shot back toward the net, with Johnson tipping it past Amanda Montiel to make it 4-3.
With STAC only down one and plenty of time still left to play, the Spartans put on a valiant effort, directing shots toward the net and earning penalty corners, but no further scoring would take place and time would run out, giving #4 seed Adelphi the slim 4-3 victory and a berth into the Northeast-10 Tournament Semifinals against top seed Saint Anselm on Friday at Grappone Stadium in Manchester, N.H.
Spartans keeper Jessie Hohenstein (L, 9-6) made four stops on the evening, while across the field in the Panthers goal, Amanda Montiel (W, 6-1) made six saves.
St. Thomas Aquinas held a 26-14 shots advantage and a 12-7 edge in penalty corners for the match.
2022 NE10 Field Hockey Championship Schedule
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Quarterfinals – at Higher Seeds
Match 1: #8 Southern New Hampshire (1) at #1 Saint Anselm (2) - Final
Match 2: #7 Pace (2) at #2 Assumption (1) - Final
Match 3: #6 New Haven (1) at #3 Bentley (0) - Final/2OT
Match 4: #5 St. Thomas Aquinas (3) at #4 Adelphi (4) - Final
Friday, November 18
Semifinals - at Higher Seeds
Match 5: #1 Saint Anselm vs. #4 Adelphi – Time TBD
Match 6: #7 Pace vs. #6 New Haven – Time TBD
Sunday, November 20
Championship – at Higher Seed
Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner