Field Hockey Downed at Home by WestConn in Season Opener Friday Night

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team was downed in non-conference action at home by visiting intrastate opponent Western Connecticut State University (WCSU), 4-2, in both teams' opening game of the 2024 regular season Friday evening at the USJ Field Hockey Field in West Hartford, Conn. With the result, the Blue Jays start the year 0-1, while the Wolves begin the year 1-0.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Wolves found the back of the cage once in all four quarters, while the Blue Jays scored once in the third period and once in the final period to account for the scoreline.
• WCSU's Miah Ruiz (New Fairfield, Conn.) opened the scoring in the contest with her first goal of the season on an unassisted strike 11:56 into the first quarter.
• Junior Reagan Schoen (Newtown, Conn.) then potted her first of three goals in the game for the Wolves late in the second stanza off an insert on a penalty corner from sophomore Alyssa Montalvo (Holbrook, N.Y.) to increase the visitors' lead to 2-0 entering halftime.
• The Wolves pushed their lead out to 3-0 on nearly an identical play 5:38 into the third quarter. Following another WCSU penalty corner, Montalvo found Schoen once again at the top of the arc and she fired a shot past USJ's sophomore goalkeeper Jaci Felix-Hull (East Lyme, Conn.).
• The Blue Jays would not go down quietly though and answered back less than two minutes later when freshman Grace Kociszewski (Thomaston, Conn.) scored the first goal of the 2024 season for the Blue Jays at the 37:29 mark of the game. Kociszewski corralled a long pass headed for the endline before beating a WCSU defender and slipping a shot at a tough angle between the near post and the visitors' goalkeeper to make it 3-1 heading into the final frame.
• The Wolves responded, converting on a rebound off another penalty corner opportunity, as Schoen found the back of the net once again to finish off her season-opening hat trick and stretch the lead back out to three, 4-1.
• USJ concluded the scoring and trimmed the gap to 4-2 when freshman Kaitlin Trudeau (Bernardston, Mass.) received a touch pass inside the arc from Kociszewski and rifled a low shot that beat WCSU's defenders and netminder.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Kociszewski and Trudeau both scored their first collegiate goals in the contest for the Blue Jays, while Kociszewski also added an assist for a three-point game.
• USJ's junior forward Aurelia Barker (Thomaston, Conn.) logged a team-high four shots and put three of her four shots on goal.
• The Wolves held a 17-11 edge in total shots, including a 12-8 advantage in shots on goal.
• USJ earned a slight edge in penalty corner opportunities, 8-7.
• Felix-Hull made her first career start in goal for the Blue Jays and finished with seven saves.

UP NEXT 

Field hockey contests in its first road contest of the 2024 campaign on Monday, September 2 at SUNY Morrisville. The action between the Blue Jays and Mustangs is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. on Drake Field at SUNY Morrisville Stadium in Morrisville, N.Y.

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