MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College field hockey team was toppled by visiting Pace University on Monday to open the Northeast-10 Conference postseason.
Saint Anselm, the No. 4 seed, falls to 14-5 overall on the season – the Hawks entered the game ranked second in the official NCAA Division II East Region field hockey rankings and will have to wait until the conclusion of NE10 play to learn of their postseason fate.
Pace, the No. 5 seed, provided the second consecutive upset in the NE10 Quarterfinals as Adelphi, the No. 6 seed, downed No. 3-seeded Stonehill by a matching 1-0 score in a game played at 1 p.m. Pace improves to 14-5 overall on the year with Monday's win.
The Setters and Hawks played to a 0-0 score through the first half of play. Despite the 5-2 advantage in shots for Pace, sophomore Mackenzie McConnell (Concord Township, Maine) was able to turn away three shots on target to keep her team in the game.
Pace turned up the heat on Saint Anselm in the second half, firing five shots and earning 10 penalty corners in the final 30 minutes. The heavy pressure applied by the Setters in the midfield prevented the Hawks from leaving their own defensive end for the vast majority of the third and fourth quarters.
Saint Anselm generated just one shot attempt in the final half of play. Off a penalty corner, senior Carly LaCasse (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) tipped a ball on net that was denied by Pace goalkeeper Grace Henderson. The rebound spilled out to the middle of the crease, but an unlucky bounce off a Saint Anselm foot sent the play the other way.
The Setters finally broke through with under five minutes to go in regulation as Krista Dietz, one of the leading goal scorers in NCAA Division II, broke through for her 20th goal of the season. The freshman knocked home a loose ball after a Pace shot near the right post, propelling her team into the 1-0 lead with just 4:31 to go.
Henderson needed to make just the one save en route to the victory. McConnell made three saves on four shots for Saint Anselm.
Pace took 10 of the game's 13 shots and was awarded 13 penalty corners, the most given up by Saint Anselm since Oct. 23, 2018.
