Field Hockey Nipped by Clark in Non-Conference Finale Tuesday Night, 2-1

WORCESTER, Mass. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team was nipped, 2-1, on the road in its 2023 non-conference finale Tuesday night by the Clark University Cougars at Granger Field in Worcester, Mass. With the result, the Blue Jays dip to 1-7 overall on the season, while the Cougars improve to 3-5.

KEY MOMENTS

• Clark's senior forward Greer McCarty put a shot on target in the fifth minute that was nicely stopped by USJ's senior goalkeeper Wendy Bowden (Old Saybrook, Conn.).
• Minute's later, McCarty followed up a shot from sophomore forward Fionnuala Gormley and both were saved once again by Bowden to keep the score tied.
• Clark followed with a pair of penalty corners in the seventh minute that were inserted in by sophomore midfielder Jenna Beauchain and sophomore's Alison Kopec and Elizabeth Cacciapaglia each had shots that were denied by Bowden to keep the game deadlocked.
• The Cougars would finally breakthrough though 8:13 into the match when sophomore forward Ciaran Cubbage gave Clark a 1-0 edge entering the first intermission off a feed from senior defender Rachael Romain.
• Clark's junior forward Autumn Golding put a shot on goal in the 20th minute that was stopped by Bowden and then Clark's sophomore netminder Loren Root recorded her first save of the contest in the 25th minute after a shot from USJ's junior forward Maya Tomko (Sparta, N.J.).
• The Blue Jays tied the game just before the half as Tomko found sophomore forward Aurelia Barker (Thomaston, Conn.) for the goal to make it a 1-1 game with less than five minutes remaining in the second quarter.
• Clark's Gormley and Kopec continued to apply pressure to the Blue Jays' backline with shots that were saved by Bowden in the third period as the match remained tied heading into the fourth.
• However, Cubbage opened the final quarter with a shot on goal that was saved, but then with less than five minutes to play, McCarty sent a ball over to Cubbage from the top of the circle and Cubbage found the back of the cage to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
• With less than a minute remaining, the Blue Jays had one last quality chance to try and tie the game. However, Root stopped a point-bank shot from sophomore midfielder Ariana Komonaj (Thomaston, Conn.) to preserve the 2-1 victory for the hosts.

NOTES

• Clark held a sizeable advantage in shots in the game, 24-5, including a 14-3 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Cougars earned five penalty corners to the Blue Jays' one.
• Cubbage's goals were her third and fourth of the season and seventh and eighth of her career.
• Barker's goal was her second of the season since transferring in this year to USJ from Wingate University, and her second in the last three games.
• Root played the full game and recorded two saves for the Cougars to earn the win and improve to 2-4 overall in goal on the season.
• Bowden logged double-digit saves for the second straight game and third time overall this season, finishing with 12. She played the full 60 minutes and was dealt the loos to drop to 1-7 on the year.

UP NEXT

Field hockey returns back to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a contest on Saturday, September 30 at Regis College in Weston, Mass. The action between the Blue Jays and Pride is scheduled to get underway at 11:00 a.m. at Regis Stadium.

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