Field Hockey Secures Senior Night Win Over Albertus Magnus Wednesday, 3-2

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) field hockey team secured a win on Senior Night and took down Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) rival Albertus Magnus College, 3-2, Wednesday evening at the USJ Field Hockey Field in West Hartford, Conn. With the victory, the Blue Jays improve to 4-10 overall on the 2023 season and 4-6 in GNAC play, while the Falcons dip to 1-10 overall and 1-8 in conference contests. Prior to the game, the USJ Department of Athletics held a brief ceremony, recognizing its field hockey seniors McKenna Gibson (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and Wendy Bowden (Old Saybrook, Conn.).

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Jays were quick to strike and opened the game with a goal in the first quarter. A long cross from sophomore forward Aurelia Barker (Thomaston, Conn.) whizzed in front of the goal and found junior forward Maya Tomko (Sparta, N.J.), who fired her shot up and into the back of the cage for her ninth goal of the season and gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 advantage 10:56 into the contest.
• Just before the end of the first quarter, Gibson came up clutch on defense and denied back-to-back shots attempted by the Falcons for a pair of defensive saves to hold the 1-0 scoreline in favor of USJ entering the first intermission.
• Tomko continued to be an offensive presence for the Blue Jays, and she scored her second goal of the game and tenth of the season 2:58 into second quarter off another feed from Barker, following a USJ penalty corner.
• The Falcons responded within five minutes of the second goal by the Blue Jays and got on the board at the 22:13 mark to cut the gap to 2-1. A long cross from freshman midfielder Gabriella Dellacroce (Woodbridge, Conn.) found junior forward Amber DeJonge (Grand Rapids, Mich.) in front of the cage, and DeJonge fired it in for her first goal of the 2023 season.
• The Blue Jays wasted little time in extending their lead back to two, responding with a goal 3:39 later to go up 3-1. Freshman midfielder Katrina Drouin (Enfield, Conn.) launched a shot toward the near post which was tipped in past the Albertus Magnus goalkeeper by sophomore midfielder Ariana Komonaj (Thomaston, Conn.) at the 25:52 timestamp.
• However, the Falcons once again answered less than a minute later and took advantage of a penalty corner to get back within one with 3:15 left on the clock before halftime. Once again it was DeJonge from the Falcons who would find pay dirt, scoring off a feed from sophomore midfielder Melina Tarzia (Stamford, Conn.) to make it 3-2 entering the break.

More information soon to follow...

UP NEXT

Field hockey is back on the field Saturday, October 21 for a GNAC contest on the road at Colby-Sawyer College. The action between the Blue Jays and Chargers is set to get underway at 1:00 p.m. at Sally Shaw Veitch Track & Field in New London, N.H.

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