Field Hockey Earns First Win, Takes Down SUNY Morrisville Monday, 5-2

MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team picked up its first win of the 2024 campaign, defeating SUNY Morrisville, 5-2, in a non-conference contest on the road at Drake Field Monday afternoon. With the victory, the Blue Jays leveled their record at 1-1 on the young season, while the Mustangs suffered their first defeat of the year and also moved to 1-1.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Blue Jays wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, netting the game's opening goal just 3:17 into the first quarter. Freshman Kaitlin Trudeau (Bernardston, Mass.) received a pass in the middle of the field, drove inside the arc, and ripped a low shot into the corner of the net.
• SUNY Morrisville got on the board and evened the score just over two minutes later. Following a penalty corner by the Mustangs, the Blue Jays were unable to clear the ball and freshman Kylee Noyes (Castle Creek, N.Y.) fed a long diagonal pass across the goal. The pass found classmate Mikaela Iza (West Babylon, N.Y.) and she tapped it in to make it 1-1 at the 5:45 mark of the opening quarter.
• USJ answered right back less than a minute later when junior forward Aurelia Barker (Thomaston, Conn.) fought for a ball inside the arc, won it, and sent a pass past the Mustangs' keeper toward the far post. Senior forward Maya Tomko (Sparta, N.J.) was there unmarked and directed it into a wide-open goal to reestablish the Blue Jays' lead, 2-1, 6:26 into the contest.
• Saint Joseph capitalized on a penalty corner opportunity to extend its lead to 3-1 midway through the second period. The Blue Jays worked the ball around the top of the arc before the duo of Barker and Tomko connected once again. Barker pushed a pass over to Tomko on the left wing and she rifled a shot home for her second strike of the day.
• The Blue Jays tacked on a fourth goal with just over three minutes left to play in the first half. Trudeau collected a loose ball and dribbled down the middle of the field before splitting a pair of SUNY Morrisville defenders with a pass. It found freshman Grace Kociszewski (Thomaston, Conn.) who rocketed a sweet reverse stick shot off the far post and into the back of the goal to make it 4-1 entering the halftime break.
• SUNY Morrisville struck first in the second half with a goal 5:24 into the third quarter off a penalty corner. After the ball was inserted to Noyes at the top of the arc, she and freshman Jazlyn Leet (Richford, N.Y.) executed a perfect give-and-go, with Noyes lofting a shot past USJ's senior netminder Abby Delgado (Southington, Conn.) to cut the Mustangs' deficit in half, 4-2.
• USJ's defense stood tall for the remainder of the contest and the Blue Jays added on an insurance goal halfway through the final period. Some excellent passing up the left side of the field led to a Kociszewski cross that perfectly found Trudeau, who arched a shot over the Mustangs' keeper and into the back of the net to account for the 5-2 final margin of victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Trudeau and Tomko both recorded two-goal games. Trudeau now leads the team with three goals on the season.
• The Blue Jays doubled up the Mustangs in total shots, 30-15, and held a 10-7 edge in shots on goal.
• USJ generated 14 penalty corner opportunities compared to 11 for SUNY Morrisville.
• Delgado made her first start of the 2024 season in goal for the Blue Jays. She played the full 60 minutes, made five saves, and earned the win (1-0).

UP NEXT 

Field hockey returns home for its next game, welcoming Plymouth State University for a non-conference contest on Wednesday, September 4. The action between the Blue Jays and Panthers is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. on the USJ Field Hockey Field in West Hartford, Conn.

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