Field Hockey Wins Regular-Season Finale at Albertus Magnus, 1-0

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team blanked the Albertus Magnus College (AMC) Falcons, 1-0, in its 2022 regular-season finale on the road Tuesday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game at Celentano Field in New Haven, Conn. The Blue Jays dominated the majority of possession and scoring opportunities throughout the entire match and an early first-quarter goal by sophomore midfielder Maya Tomko (Sparta, N.J.) would be all they would need to secure the shutout victory.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: USJ 1, Albertus Magnus 0
Records: USJ (3-13, 3-8 GNAC), AMC (2-12, 2-9 GNAC)
Location: Celentano Field (New Haven, Conn.)

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Jays struck quickly in the first quarter with what would wind up being the game's only goal 6:55 into the contest. With the ball in USJ's offensive end, freshman defender McKenzie Fairfax (Waterbury, Conn.) dished a pass from the left wing to freshman midfielder Ariana Komonaj (Thomaston, Conn.), who collected the ball and drove up the field. Just before Komonaj was met by an AMC defender, she centered a pass to freshman midfielder Devan Fox (Granville, Mass.), who was in the middle of the arc. Fox took a touch, spun, and used a nifty backhanded pass to find Tomko, who had just enough space to rip a one-timer that whizzed past AMC's junior goalkeeper Serena Montague (Englishtown, N.J.) and into the right side of the net for the game-winning goal.

QUOTABLE

"Our defense gave our offense great opportunities all game long today. Give credit to Albertus Magnus' goalkeeper though, as she turned away 18 of the 19 shots we fired at her. Overall, it was a great team performance by the Blue Jays. We are very happy to end the regular season on a good note and we will wait to see what happens next," said head coach Karen Nell.

NOTES

• Today's game marked the third meeting all-time between the two GNAC programs. The Blue Jays have won all three meetings and now own a 13-1 goal differential in the series.
• USJ ended the regular season strong, winning three of its final six games. Each was via shutout.
• It marked the second game in a row that Tomko scored for the Blue Jays. She now leads the team with four goals on the season.
• The Blue Jays held a significant advantage over the Falcons in shots on the afternoon, 25-1, including 19-1 in shots on goal.
• USJ also held a sizeable edge in penalty corners on the day, 19-3, generating 11 in the fourth quarter alone.
• USJ's junior goalkeeper Wendy Bowden (Old Saybrook, Conn.) needed to make just one save to register her third shutout victory between the posts for the Blue Jays on the season.
• Montague finished with 18 saves in goal for Albertus Magnus in the setback.

UP NEXT

Field hockey controlled what it could control and now awaits its fate to see if it will make the GNAC postseason tournament in just its second season in program history. With a Regis and Elms loss in both teams' final regular-season match set to be played on Wednesday, the Blue Jays will be guaranteed the eighth seed in the tournament and travel to top-seeded Johnson & Wales for a GNAC quarterfinal game on Saturday, October 29.