Three-Goal First Half Leads No. 9 Field Hockey Past Saint Joseph’s (Me.)

WELLESLEY, Mass. – No. 9 Wellesley College field hockey scored three first half goals en route to a 3-1 non-conference victory over Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Tuesday afternoon. The Blue improve to 8-0 on the season, finishing the month of September with a perfect record for the second year in a row. The setback snaps St. Joseph's (Me.) six-game win streak and drops the Monks to 6-2 on the year.

Wellesley first year Rachel Hwang (Campbell, Calif.) scored the game's first goal in the 18^th minute, redirecting home a feed from senior Anissa Sridhar (London, Ontario, Canada) after Sridhar had been denied on a series of attempts in front by St. Joseph's (Me.) first year goalkeeper Megan Baker (Gorham, Maine).

The Blue used the third of their 12 penalty corner opportunities in the contest to make the score 2-0 at 26:45 of the first. Senior Hannah Flesch (Rockville, Md.), the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Offensive Player of the Week, jumped on a loose ball in front following a broken play on the injection and fired a shot low and into the back of the cage.

With five minutes remaining in the half, Sridhar would add her team-leading seventh goal of the season, when she dribbled past multiple defenders and fired a shot from the slot that deflected high up and over the head of Baker and into the cage to make the score 3-0. 

The Monks scored the only goal of the second half when first year Michalia Parent (Westborough, Mass.) pounced on her own rebound in front to net her sixth of the season.

Baker tallied nine saves for the Monks, playing the full 70 minutes in the cage. Wellesley junior Lucy Hurlock (Needham, Mass) and first year Maggie Connelly (Duxbury, Mass.) each made four saves, as Connelly came on in the second half in relief.

The Blue finished the contest with a 17-9 advantage in shots and a 12-5 advantage in penalty corners.

Wellesley's win sets up a match-up of nationally ranked and undefeated teams, when Wellesley welcomes No. 2 Bowdoin on Thursday afternoon, October 1, at 4:00 PM.  St. Joseph's (Me.) returns to conference play on Saturday, October 3, when they travel to Simmons for an 11:00 AM contest.