Field Hockey Drops Overtime Heartbreaker to SJC in GNAC Opener, 1-0

STANDISH, Maine – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team battled its heart out, but dropped an overtime heartbreaker, 1-0, in its 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener on the road to the Saint Joseph's College (SJC) of Maine Monks at the SJC Athletics Complex in Standish, Maine on Saturday. SJC's freshman Isabella Littler (Fayette, Maine) scored off a Maya Waryas (Bellows Falls, Vt.) pass 3:48 into overtime play to lift the Monks to victory. With the result, the Blue Jays slide to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in GNAC play, while the Monks pick up their first win of the 2023 campaign to improve to 1-3 overall and to start conference play 1-0.

KEY MOMENTS

• Both teams had multiple scoring opportunities during regulation but the dueling goalkeepers – SJC's junior Kassidy Collins (Pittston, Maine) and USJ's senior Wendy Bowden (Old Saybrook, Conn.) proved to be up to the task to force extra play.
• The overtime frame – as stipulated by the NCAA: 10 minutes of 7v7 play with another to follow, and then penalty strokes, if needed – featured several full field sprints before Waryas found Littler in the circle for the game clincher.

NOTES

• Saint Joseph's College of Maine held the lead in shots (28-13), shots on goal (11-9), and penalty corners (18-2) in its triumph.
• Sophomore's Aurelia Barker (Thomaston, Conn.) and McKenzie Fairfax (Waterbury, Conn.) led USJ's offensive attack with three shots each.
• Waryas posted a game-high 12 shots, including six shots on goal for the Monks.
• SJC's Collins turned away all eight shots she faced in the win (1-3), while USJ's Bowden posted nine saves in the difficult setback (0-3).
• Blue Jays' freshman Alyssa Milligan (Cumberland, R.I.) and Monks' freshman Emma Casale (Windham, Maine) each recorded their first career defensive save in the contest.
• Saint Joseph's College is now 3-0 all-time versus University of Saint Joseph.

UP NEXT

Field hockey will look to break into the win column when it returns to action next on Tuesday, September 12, travelling to Anna Maria College for another GNAC road contest. The action between the Blue Jays and AMCATS is scheduled to get underway at 6:00 p.m. on Caparso Field in Paxton, Mass.

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