GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie McConnell (Concord Township, Maine) made 14 saves for the nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College field hockey team in a 2-1 loss to Adelphi University on Monday.
Saint Anselm loses just its second Northeast-10 Conference regular-season game since the start of the 2019 season, falling to 7-3 overall and to 5-1 on the year in league play. The Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak, improving to 4-4 overall while winning their second NE10 match in five games.
McConnell turned away 14 of the 15 shots that she faced in the game. Prior to Monday's action, the last time a Saint Anselm backstop needed to make as many saves was on Nov. 4, 2014, a 4-2 loss to No. 4-ranked Stonehill – Katherine Sears '17 posted 14 saves in 70 minutes against the Skyhawks.
Despite scoring the first goal of the game just 5:21 into play, Adelphi overwhelmed Saint Anselm with 17 of the game's 23 shot attempts. Furthermore, the Panthers applied heavy pressure to the Hawks defense in the circle as Adelphi was awarded 11 of the game's 13 penalty corners.
Adelphi's Jackie Brown, an All-America defender from the 2019 season, was pressed into action as a goaltender for the first time in her career to begin the second half. She earned the victory despite never playing the position at the collegiate level before, making saves on all three second-half shots she faced.
Senior Carly LaCasse (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) scored for the second consecutive game, this time putting the Hawks up by a 1-0 margin early in the contest. Adelphi was granted two quick penalty corners in the game, but the Hawks had two shots within 12 seconds just minutes later – LaCasse was able to convert on her team's second shot to create an early advantage for the visitors.
Adelphi brought the game even just 11 seconds before the end of the first quarter. Amanda Lee cashed in with her second goal of the season on the play as the Panthers finished with nine of the first half's 12 shots – Saint Anselm had just one more shot through the end of the first half, but the Hawks defense kept their team in the game before the break.
Saint Anselm fired three shots in the third quarter, but would be held silent in the fourth quarter as the Adelphi forwards and midfielders kept the pressure on Saint Anselm ball carriers. With less than two minutes to go, the Panthers were rewarded as Kelsey Catalano had her initial shot denied by McConnell, but the Hawks netminder could not corral the rebound. Catalano was able to tuck the ball behind McConnell and into a wide-open net for the go-ahead goal.
Saint Anselm looks to respond on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at Southern New Hampshire. The game is slated to begin at Larkin Field with a 6 p.m. start time.
