Field Hockey Defeats Dean in GNAC Play on the Road, 3-1

FRANKLIN, Mass. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team defeated the Dean College Bulldogs, 3-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest on the road Tuesday afternoon at Grant Field in Franklin, Mass. With the result, the Blue Jays improved to 5-4 overall on the season and 2-2 in GNAC play, while the Bulldogs dropped to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• With under a minute left to play in the first quarter, USJ made great work of its first penalty corner opportunity to pot the game's opening goal. Junior Ariana Komonaj (Thomaston, Conn.) inserted a clean pass from the near corner to freshman Kaitlin Trudeau (Bernardston, Mass.), who collected and rifled a low shot off the inside of the far post and into the back of the cage to build an early 1-0 lead.
• The 1-0 scoreline held through the remainder of the first half, but the Blue Jays would be the first to strike coming out of the break. Just over midway through the third quarter, Trudeau stole a ball in the midfield and played it forward to junior Aurelia Barker (Thomaston, Conn.). Barker then slotted a perfect pass ahead to freshman Grace Kociszewski (Thomaston, Conn.), who had nothing but space and Dean's freshman goalkeeper Sara Gardner (Hampstead, Md.) in front of her. Kociszewski raced up the left side on the breakaway, drove toward goal, and fired a shot past the charging keeper to double USJ's advantage.
• Dean would not go away quietly though and answered back with a goal to trim its deficit in half with 1:56 left in the third period. Junior Emma Mock (Tunkhannock, Pa.) knocked a long pass down the left side of the field. The ball appeared it was destined to go over the endline, but freshman Emma Gragen (Brattleboro, Vt.) raced to stop it just in time, and played it back toward the middle of the field. It found Dean's unmarked freshman Emily Yazzetti (Mahopac, N.Y.), who collected, drove inside the middle of the arc, and ripped a shot into the right side of the cage.
• Saint Joseph, who controlled most of the possession throughout the contest, would not be fazed by the Bulldogs' response and tacked on an insurance goal in the final quarter. Similar to how USJ scored its second goal, junior Devan Fox (Granville, Mass.) intercepted a pass in the midfield and played it to Barker. Barker then turned and once again fed a pass forward on the left flank to Kociszewski, who this time had a Dean defender and goalkeeper to beat. She took a touch out wide to elude the defender, before utilizing a nifty lift shot that sailed over the charging Dean keeper and into the back of the net to account for the 3-1 final margin of victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Kociszewski finished with a pair of goals for a four-point afternoon. The tallies were her ninth and 10th of the 2024 campaign.
• The game's opening goal by Trudeau marked her fifth goal of the season.
• The goal by Dean's Yazzetti was her 10th of the year.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Jaci Felix-Hull (East Lyme, Conn.) started and played the full 60 minutes in net for the Blue Jays. She earned the win (2-2) and saved four of the five shots on goal faced.
• USJ outshot Dean in the contest 16-9, including an 8-5 edge in shots on goal.
• The Blue Jays earned five penalty corner opportunities to the Bulldogs' two.

UP NEXT

Field hockey will look to make it back-to-back wins when it plays next on Saturday, September 28 at Lasell University in another GNAC contest on the road. The action between the Blue Jays and Lasers is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. at Grellier Field in Newton, Mass.

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