MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman goalkeeper Katherine Sears (Northboro, Mass.) stopped all eight shots she faced in her first collegiate start and classmate Rose Mooney (North Attleborough, Mass.) added her first career points with a goal and an assist to lead the Saint Anselm College field hockey team to Saturday afternoon's 2-0 victory against American International College at Grappone Stadium as they hosted their third annual "Corners for the Cure" initiative.
The Hawks record their second straight shutout to improve to 4-5 on the season, including 2-2 in Northeast-10 play, while the Yellow Jackets dip to 5-5, 0-2 NE-10.
Sears, who had not played a second in net in her college career prior to the game, stood on her head in the first half to keep the Hawks in the game. Then Mooney, who had not recorded a point in eight prior collegiate starts, and the rest of the Saint Anselm offense made all of her hard work stand up with a pair of late goals.
Saint Anselm pressured the AIC defense five-and-a-half minutes into the contest when senior Elizabeth Sears (Danvers, Mass.) and junior Bridget Davis (Mansfield, Mass.) ripped off consecutive hard shots on net, but Yellow Jackets goalkeeper Kori Huffman was up to the task both times.
Huffman again kept the Hawks off the board with just under nine minutes remaining in the half as she snuffed out a 2-on-1 breakaway opportunity for Saint Anselm. Davis was running with sophomore Canada Stewart (Derry, N.H.) when she dished a pass from the middle to her left for Stewart, whose shot was knocked away by an aggressively-sliding Huffman.
It was then Kate Sears' turn as AIC had two shots to snap the scoreless deadlock in the final minute. Emily Chang one-timed a centering pass directly in front of Sears, who quickly reacted to kick the ball away with 35 seconds on the clock. Sears then came up with another big save to end the half as the Hawks had to play out a penalty corner with time expired and the rookie goalkeeper turned away Courtney Williams' attempt to keep it scoreless.
The Hawks looked to finally provide Kate Sears with some offensive support just under four minutes into the second half when Liz Sears moved in on the left all alone and beat Huffman with a shot that rang off the near post.
Saint Anselm nearly broke through late in the 47th minute when Stewart's cross from the left of the circle to the post looked to find a wide open Meagan Halligan (No. Branford, Conn.), but the ball hopped over her stick and out of play.
The Hawks finally jumped on the board with just 6:21 to go in regulation when Mooney's left-to-right insert into the middle of the circle found sophomore Richelle Davis (Enfield, Conn.), whose shot beat Huffman between the pads for the 1-0 lead.
Mooney added some insurance with 3:30 remaining when her shot found space between Huffman and the left post to double the gap to 2-0.
Huffman stopped nine shots for the Yellow Jackets, who were narrowly outshot, 18-17.
With 17 penalty corners on the afternoon, the Hawks raised more than $10,000 dollars for Susan G. Komen for the Cure with Corners for the Cure.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. when they travel to take on Stonehill College at W.B. Mason Stadium. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2:30 p.m. when they play host to Mercy College at Grappone. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
