MANCHESTER, N.H. – Saint Anselm College junior Mia Vecchione scored the game-winning goal in the 49th minute of play to propel the top-seeded Hawks to a 1-0 victory over No. 5 seed Merrimack College on Friday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference Field Hockey Semifinal game held at Grappone Stadium in Manchester, N.H.
Box Score
The Hawks improve to 16-3 overall and advance to take on No. 2 seed LIU Post on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Grappone Stadium. The Pioneers (14-3) advanced with a 3-0 victory over Stonehill College in the other Semifinal on Friday afternoon.
The game doubles as a top-10 matchup as the Hawks were ranked #3 in the latest NFHCA Coaches Poll, while LIU Post was ranked #5. The two teams met back on Oct. 1, with the then-ranked #1 Pioneers pulling out the 2-1 victory in overtime in Brookville, N.Y.
Back to the action on Friday, Saint Anselm controlled play in the first half as they held a 10-4 edge in shots and 7-3 advantage in penalty corners, but could not find the back of the net.
The Warriors (9-8) had the best chance of the first half as Merrimack was awarded a corner in the 24th minute. The ball was played into Nicole Bradley and she fired a shot into the scramble in front. The shot was redirected into the air by Rylie Hammond and over the head of Katherine Sears, but Jennifer Brown was there to swat the ball out of the air for the defensive save to preserve the 0-0 tie headed into halftime.
Saint Anselm found the game-winning goal by taking advantage of a pair of yellow cards called on the Warriors 10 minutes into the second half. The Hawks attempted three penalty corners with the two-player advantage but could not get a clean shot on goal.
On their fourth corner attempt, Erin Collins played the ball in and it eventually found its way to Jamie McNamara. McNamara fired on goal, but Merrimack's Katharina Ohmen turned the shot away. The rebound came out to Mia Vecchione and the junior went top-shelf for the go-ahead goal with less than 22 minutes to play in regulation.
Merrimack had one more chance at an equalizer when they were awarded a penalty corner in the 64th minute. The ball eventually found the stick of Taylor Simpson, but Sears was there to make the save on her shot attempt and help the Hawks avoid any damage.
The final minutes were about field position, and with time running down, the Hawks forced a turnover in their own end and were able to run out the clock for only their second NE-10 Tournament victory in program history.
Saint Anselm held an 18-6 edge in shots in the game while taking 13 penalty corners to only four for the visitors. Katherine Sears picked up her 16th win of the season while making two saves, helping the team set a new program record for wins in a season.
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