WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College field hockey team broke a 1-1 tie in the third quarter, pushing past the University of New Haven by a 4-1 score on Sunday.
Saint Anselm, ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II by the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association, moves to 2-0 on the year while the Chargers dip to 0-2 overall following the non-league contest. The Hawks host Pace on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m.
Junior Maeve Murphy (Scituate, Mass.) paced the Hawks offense with two goals and an assist for five points (2-1=5) just one day after posting a helper in her team's opening-day game against Franklin Pierce.
New Haven dictated the pace of play early, despite conceding the first goal of the game to Sarah Bagley (North Andover, Mass.) off a Murphy cross. The Chargers out-shot the Hawks by a four-to-two margin in the opening 15 minutes of play before firing all five of the second quarter's shots.
Freshman netminder Sidney Falterer (Fairfield, Conn.), making her collegiate debut, was up to the task and stopped five out of six total shots that she faced in the opening 30 minutes. New Haven was awarded four of the game's first six penalty corners, but could not capitalize on any of those opportunities.
With 6:08 elapsed in the second half, Murphy picked up the first of her two goals on the afternoon, fighting her way through a scrum in front of the net and jamming the ball past New Haven backstop Keira Integlia. She struck again just minutes into the fourth quarter, taking a feed from junior Joanna Archambault (Andover, Mass.) off a penalty corner and shooting high over the defense.
Junior Shelby Dunn (Yarmouthport, Mass.) added an insurance goal for Saint Anselm with under two minutes to go in regulation, putting a rebound home past Integlia.
Falterer won her debut in a Hawks uniform, finishing with eight saves on nine shots. She joins her teammate Mackenzie McConnell (Concord Twp., Maine) in having claimed a victory in her first appearance in a Saint Anselm uniform.
With an eight-save debut, Falterer posted the most saves by a Hawks goalkeeper in her collegiate debut since Katherine Sears '17 halted eight shots against American Int'l on Oct. 5, 2013.
Natalie Carter had the lone goal for New Haven, who outshot the Hawks by a 12-to-9 margin, but the Hawks converted on four of their nine shots on frame. Integlia finished with three saves on seven shots.
