Field Hockey Nipped By Blazers Tuesday Night, 2-1

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team was nipped by the visiting Elms College Blazers, 2-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match on a misty and cold Tuesday evening at the USJ Field Hockey Field in West Hartford. The Blazers found the back of the net twice in the opening half before the Blue Jays turned up the intensity in the second half, holding the visitors to zero shots and scoring once themselves, but they were unable to find the equalizer before the final horn sounded to account for the 2-1 setback.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: USJ 1, Elms 2
Records: USJ (0-10, 0-5 GNAC), Elms (1-9, 1-4 GNAC)
Location: USJ Field Hockey Field (West Hartford, Conn.)

KEY MOMENTS

• Both teams traded opportunities early on until the Blazers broke through with a goal in the final seconds of the first quarter to jump out in front, 1-0. With 14 seconds left to play, the Blazers earned their third penalty corner of the opening period and would capitalize on it. Elms' freshman forward Hannah St. John (Middleboro, Mass.) inserted the ball into play and found senior forward Katie Jones (San Diego, Calif.) at the top of the arc. Jones tapped it to her right to junior defender Samantha Bonneau (Skowhegan, Maine), who dished it right back to Jones, and she fired a rocket that beat USJ's keeper into the right side of the goal on a perfectly executed give-and-go to give the visitors the early lead with just seven seconds left to play in the period.
• The Blazers doubled their lead 26:27 into the match after another goal from Jones that occurred following another Elms penalty corner. Again, St. John inserted, this time outside the arc to Bonneau who dumped it back in and found freshman midfielder Abbie Sierzego (South Hadley, Mass.). Sierzego redirected the pass in front of the goal and found an open Jones who one-timed it into the back of the net to build the visitor's lead to 2-0, which would stand heading into halftime.
• The Blue Jays came out of the intermission looking like a different team and turned up the intensity for the entire second half in an effort to get back into the match. In the first two minutes alone to start the third quarter, USJ rattled off three quick shots and earned four penalty corners.
• USJ's tenacity would finally payoff when it got on the board and cut its deficit in half with a goal 2:31 into the second stanza. After an Elms turnover in the midfield, freshman midfielder Devan Fox (Granville, Mass.) corralled the ball and drove down field. After making a cut to create some space inside the arc, she ripped one toward goal that found wide-open freshman midfielder Ariana Komonaj (Thomaston, Conn.) all alone at the far post. Komonaj just needed to get a piece of it, and she did, to deflect it past Elms' freshman goalkeeper Kaitlyn Lynes (South Hadley, Mass.) and into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
• The Blue Jays kept up the pressure and continued to dominate throughout the entire second half with hopes to score the equalizer. In total, USJ would outshoot Elms 13-0 and held a 9-1 advantage in penalty corners over the final 30 minutes of play, but couldn't muster one more goal to force overtime and was dealt a tough-luck setback, 2-1, as the final horn sounded.

NOTES

• Tonight's game marked the second meeting all-time between the two programs. The Blazers have won both contests.
• Seven of USJ's first 10 games this season have now been decided by just one goal.
• The Blue Jays outshot the Blazers on the night, 21-9. Both teams finished with seven shots on goal.
• Fox registered a game-high seven shots, while senior midfielder Emma Kociszewski (Thomaston, Conn.) added six.
• The Blue Jays doubled up the Blazers in penalty corners, 12-6.
• USJ's junior goalkeeper Wendy Bowden (Old Saybrook, Conn.) made five saves between the posts in the setback.
• Lynes finished with six saves to record the win in goal for Elms and improve her record to 1-8 on the season.

UP NEXT

Field hockey returns back to play on Friday, October 7 for a GNAC match and Senior Night at home versus Regis College. The action is set to begin between the Blue Jays and Pride at 7:00 p.m. under the lights on the USJ Field Hockey Field in West Hartford, Conn. Admission to all USJ regular-season games is free of charge. Fans who cannot make it to matches in person can watch all of the action live and on demand by visiting https://portal.stretchinternet.com/usj/.