Field Hockey Falls on the Road at Regis Saturday, 2-1

WESTON, Mass. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team fell in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest on the road to the Regis College Pride, 2-1, on a gloomy Saturday at Regis Stadium in Weston, Mass. With the result, the Blue Jays drop to 1-8 overall on the 2023 season and 1-4 in GNAC play, while the Pride improve to 2-8 overall and 2-3 in league action.

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Jays came out of the gates firing to start the game, generating a pair of shots on goal and a pair of penalty corners in the opening 5:22 of play.
• Feeding off its early energy, USJ broke through moments later with the game's first goal 5:38 into the first quarter. Junior forward Maya Tomko (Sparta, N.J.) got the Blue Jays on the board first with an unassisted goal for her second goal of the 2023 season.
• Saint Joseph continued to apply pressure and dominated the opening 15 minutes of action, outshooting Regis, 8-1, and creating five penalty corners in total to zero for the Pride. However, the game remained 1-0 entering the first intermission.
• The Pride flipped the script and levelled the game minutes into the second quarter. Junior forward Frankie Alley (Gardner, Mass.) used an unassisted strike of her own to even the match, 1-1, at the 17:37 mark.
• USJ created three penalty corners following the goal by the hosts but were only able to muster two shots in the second stanza as the game entered halftime deadlocked, 1-1.
• The Blue Jays continued to dominate the stat sheet coming out of the break with a penalty corner and three shots recorded over the opening 6:15 of the third quarter.
• However, the Pride made the most of their opportunities and struck paydirt with a goal at the 37:48 mark. Alley connected with freshman midfielder Maddy Monier (Laconia, N.H.) to make it 2-1 and for what would be the game-winning goal. It marked Monier's second career goal and first career game-winning goal.
• Sophomore midfielder Ariana Komonaj (Thomaston, Conn.) opened the fourth quarter with a shot on goal and freshman defender Gabriella Borruso (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) fired a shot on goal off in the final two minutes of regulation, but both were handled by Regis' sophomore goalkeeper Sarai Velez (Everett, Mass.) to preserve the victory for the Pride.

NOTES

• The Blue Jays outshot the Pride overall, 16-10, with both teams registering five shots on goal.
• Komonaj and sophomore midfielder Devan Fox (Granville, Mass.) paced USJ's offensive attack with a team-best four shots each.
• USJ also held a slight advantage in penalty corners in the contest, 11-6.
• Senior goalkeeper Wendy Bowden (Old Saybrook, Conn.) was dealt the loss (1-8) in goal for the Blue Jays. She faced five shots on goal and made three saves.
• Velez picked up her first win of the season between the posts for the Pride to improve to 1-5. She also faced five shots on goal and made four saves.
• It marked the third meeting all-time between the two programs with the Pride defeating the Blue Jays for the first time on Saturday as the series is now 2-1 in favor of USJ.

UP NEXT

Field hockey returns to play on Wednesday, October 4, travelling to Elms College for another GNAC road contest. The action between the Blue Jays and Blazers is set to begin at 4:00 p.m. on Timothy J. Leary Field in Chicopee, Mass.

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