Field Hockey Shuts Out Regis On Senior Night Friday, 4-0

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team shut out the visiting Regis College Pride, 4-0, on Senior Night Friday evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match at the USJ Field Hockey Field in West Hartford. Four different Blue Jays scored in the game as USJ registered one tally in each quarter to claim the wire-to-wire victory.

Prior to the match, the USJ Department of Athletics held a brief ceremony to recognize the USJ Field Hockey Class of 2023. Four seniors were honored in the pregame festivities, including Makenzie Dinger (Hingham, Mass.), Cayleen Defaranos (Northford, Conn.), Emma Kociszewski (Thomaston, Conn.), and Kate Miranda (West Hartford, Conn.).

GAME INFORMATION
Score: USJ 4, Regis 0
Records: USJ (1-10, 1-5 GNAC), Regis (3-8, 3-3 GNAC)
Location: USJ Field Hockey Field (West Hartford, Conn.)

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Jays scored one goal in each quarter, starting just 2:24 into the match when Dinger set up Defaranos for her second goal of the season. It marked a senior-to-senior connection, fittingly on Senior Night, to get the Blue Jays off to a roaring start in the match.
• Less than one minute into the second quarter, freshman midfielder Devan Fox (Granville, Mass.) ripped a strike to score an unassisted goal, her third of the year, to extend the USJ advantage to 2-0, where it would stand at halftime.
• The best scoring opportunity for the Pride came five minutes into the third quarter as sophomore forward Frankie Alley (Gardner, Mass.) initiated a penalty corner opportunity, but shots by freshman midfielder Ava Costello (North Easton, Mass.) and junior forward Sarah Juskiewicz (Gorham, Maine) were turned away by USJ's junior goalie Wendy Bowden (Old Saybrook, Conn.). Off another penalty corner situation, a shot by Juskiewicz was cleared off the goal line by Defaranos for a defensive save.
• Midway through the third quarter, USJ drew a penalty corner, and freshman midfielder Ariana Komonaj (Thomaston, Conn.) inserted the ball. After an initial shot by Defaranos was saved, Kociszewski collected the loose ball and sent it across the goalmouth back to Komonaj, who was successful on her scoring attempt to increase the Blue Jays' lead to 3-0.
• Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Komonaj started another penalty corner play, entering the ball to Fox, who in turn found sophomore midfielder Maya Tomko (Sparta, N.J.) on the left side of the arc. Tomko collected and ripped a shot into the back of the net for her second goal of the year and to balloon the USJ lead to 4-0.

QUOTABLE

"I'm so proud of the team and the way they played tonight. After so many close games, everything clicked and they played strong defense and team offense. It was a great team win and we will look to carry over this momentum into our next match on Wednesday at Simmons," said head coach Karen Nell.

NOTES

• Tonight's game marked the second meeting all-time between the two GNAC programs. The Blue Jays have won both contests and now own a 7-2 goal differential in the series.
• It marked USJ's first win of the 2022 season and first triumph via shutout since the Blue Jays blanked Dean College back on October 6, 2021.
• The Blue Jays outshot the Pride on the night, 18-5, including 13-3 in shots on goal.
• Kociszewski and Tomko each logged four shots on the night to fuel the offensive barrage from the Blue Jays.
• USJ held a sizeable advantage in penalty corners, 8-3.
• Bowden made a pair of saves to register her first victory between the posts for the Blue Jays on the season and is now 1-10.
• Junior netminder Jocelyn White (Wilmington, Mass.) was tested all night and finished with nine saves in the setback. White falls to 3-6 on the year in goal for the Pride.

UP NEXT

Field hockey returns back to play on Wednesday, October 12 for a GNAC match on the road at Simmons University. The action is set to begin between the Blue Jays and Sharks at 3:30 p.m. at Daly Field in Brighton, Mass.