Junior Haley Chrobock (Lauren Luo)
Junior Haley Chrobock (Lauren Luo)

Wellesley Field Hockey Tops Saint Joseph's (Me.) 2-1 To Open 2017 Season

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Junior Haley Chrobock (Branchville, N.J.) scored the game-winning goal and added an assist to power Wellesley College field hockey to a 2-1 victory over Saint Joseph's College of Maine in the season opener for both squads on Friday at the Wellesley Fields Complex.

Wellesley improves to 1-0 to start the season, downing the Monks (0-1) for the third time in the last three years.

The visitors got out to the early advantage in the game, scoring at 20:09 of the first when sophomore Libby Pomerleau (Limerick, Maine), the Monks leading scorer from a season ago, broke free from the Wellesley backline and snuck the ball by Wellesley goalkeeper Maggie Connelly (Duxbury, Mass.) and into the cage.

Wellesley tied the game less than nine minutes later when junior Arielle Mitropoulos (Cambridge, Mass.) finished on a close-range pass from Chrobock. Chrobock corralled a rebound following a drive by Mitzi Wiggin (North Hampton, N.H.), before slipping the ball across to Mitropoulos for the finish.

Chrobock then registered her second career game-winner in the second half. The junior forward turned and fired the ball into the cage after receiving a pass from senior Emmy Hamilton (New York, N.Y.).

Junior Megan Baker (Gorham, Maine) made five stops for the visitors. Connelly made three stops, including an impressive two-save flurry at the end of the first half to get her first win of the year. Wellesley finished with a 13-6 edge in shots in the contest and a 9-0 advantage in penalty corners, while Wiggin also picked up a defensive save when the first St. Joseph's shot of the game nearly snuck over the goal line.

Wellesley returns to action tomorrow with a 2:00 PM contest versus Husson University. Saint Joseph's (Me.) will host Rivier at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland in their next game on Friday, September 8, at 8:00 PM.