PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Junior Allia Connolly (Westford, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal 2:37 into overtime to lead the #8-ranked Saint Anselm College field hockey team to a 3-2 victory at Pace University on Saturday afternoon.
Box Score
The Hawks improve to 4-1 overall with the win and 1-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while Pace drops to 2-2 and 0-2 in league games. Saint Anselm will travel to Mercy College on Sunday morning for an 11:30 a.m. game that was moved up from a 1 p.m. start to accommodate weather concerns.
The teams played a fairly balanced first half as both teams took four shots apiece in the frame. Hannah Friend (North Easton, Mass.), Connolly, Emma Kincaid (West Bridgewater, Mass.) and Rose Mooney (North Attleborough, Mass.) all took chances, but could not find the back of the net.
Pace broke through in the 34th minute as Jenna Sanossian potted her first goal of the season to give the Setters a 1-0 lead headed into the break.
In the opening minute of the second half, Allia Connolly took a pass from Emma Kincaid to tie the score at 1-1. The Hawks kept up the pressure, firing four more shots on the Pace keeper, before Rose Mooney put the Hawks on top 2-1 off a feed from Erin Collins (Auburn, Mass.) in the 46th minute of play.
Pace answered in the 51st minute as Halley Rose put home a rebound off a shot from Samantha Gray to make it a 2-2 game. Both teams had chances over the final 19 minutes, but neither team could score as the game spilled into overtime.
The Setters had the first chance in extra time after being awarded a penalty corner in the 72nd minute. The ball eventually came out to Paige Predmore, but her shot was turned away by Katherine Sears (Northboro, Mass.) to preserve the 2-2 stalemate.
On the ensuing Hawks possession, Connolly potted the game-winner in the top right corner of the goal to send the Hawks to their fourth-straight victory with the 3-2 win.
Saint Anselm held a 14-7 edge in shots in the game and took eight penalty corners to just three for Pace. Katherine Sears made one save to earn her fourth win of the year, while Lesley Sanchez Alvarez suffered the setback and made three stops.
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