Freshmen Propel Field Hockey to Win at Dean Wednesday, 2-0

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Goals by freshmen McKenzie Fairfax (Waterbury, Conn.) and Ariana Komonaj (Thomaston, Conn.) propelled the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team to victory over the Dean College Bulldogs, 2-0, on the road in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Grant Field in Franklin, Mass. The Blue Jays scored once in the second quarter, via the first career goal by Fairfax, and once in the third quarter, via a freshman-to-freshman connection, to account for the final decision.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: USJ 2, Dean 0
Records: USJ (2-12, 2-7 GNAC), Dean (0-14, 0-9 GNAC)
Location: Grant Field (Franklin, Mass.)

KEY MOMENTS

• After a scoreless opening quarter, the Blue Jays struck first with a goal 3:44 into the second period on a penalty stroke. USJ centered the ball inside the arc and created havoc in front of the net as they looked to try and score the game's first goal. The Blue Jays would initially be denied, but the chaos in front of the net caused Dean's junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Fillion (New Bedford, Mass.) to come off her line, while an ensuing foul occurred and the referee signaled for a USJ penalty stroke. Fairfax stepped up for her first career penalty stroke attempt and delivered a shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead which would stand until the halftime intermission.
• Following a Dean turnover in its offensive half of the field with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter, senior midfielder Emma Kociszewski (Thomaston, Conn.) collected the ball and charged all the way down field into the right corner. Kociszewski then slapped a brilliant centering cross that went across the goalmouth and drew out Fillion from the cage in an attempt to intercept the pass. However, Fillion was unable to deflect the pass and freshman forward Isabella Pelletier (Weare, N.H.) was there to collect the ball and tapped a pass back to Komonaj. With the goalkeeper out of position, Komonaj had a wide-open net and she buried the shot to increase the Blue Jays' lead to 2-0 which would stand until the final horn sounded.

QUOTABLE

"I'm very proud of the team and their effort today. They worked really hard and created a lot of scoring opportunities throughout the entirety of the game. Our defense was also spectacular and they shut down the Dean attack to preserve the win," said head coach Karen Nell.

NOTES

• Today's game marked the second meeting all-time between the two GNAC programs. The Blue Jays have won both contests in shut out fashion and now own a 6-0 goal differential in the series.
• USJ has now won two of its last four matches with both wins coming via shutout.
• It marked the first career goal for Fairfax and her first career game-winning goal.
• Komonaj collected her third goal of her rookie campaign off the second career assist from Pelletier.
• The Blue Jays outshot the Bulldogs on the afternoon, 11-2, including 8-2 in shots on goal.
• USJ held a slight edge in penalty corners in the match, 6-2.
• USJ's junior goalkeeper Wendy Bowden (Old Saybrook, Conn.) made a pair of saves to register her second shut out victory between the posts for the Blue Jays on the season and is now 2-12.
• Fillion finished with five saves in the setback for Dean and drops to 0-12 on the year in goal for the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT

Field hockey returns back to play on Saturday, October 22 for a GNAC match on the road at Rivier University. The action is set to begin between the Blue Jays and Raiders at 1:00 p.m. at Joanne Merrill Field in Nashua, N.H.