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Field Hockey sideline huddle

PREVIEW: No. 6 field hockey, No. 7 Assumption to play in NCAA First Round

11/26/2022 2:30:00 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College field hockey team, ranked sixth nationally by the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association, was selected to participate in the 2022 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship, earning the fifth seed in the field of six and the right to play in an NCAA First Round game this Sunday, Nov. 27 at 1 p.m.

No. 6 SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (14-6)
Roster | Schedule & Results | 2022 Statistics | News | Game Notes

No. 7 ASSUMPTION UNIVERSITY GREYHOUNDS (14-5)
Roster | Schedule & Results | 2022 Statistics | News | Preview

The Hawks are taking on fourth-seeded (and No. 7 nationally-ranked) Assumption in Worcester with the winner of that fixture traveling to the state of Washington to face top seed East Stroudsburg on Thursday, Dec. 1 in an NCAA Division II semifinals match.

Saint Anselm has compiled a 14-6 overall record to date, most recently falling in the Northeast-10 Conference semifinals to Adelphi in double-overtime on Friday, Nov. 18. The Hawks are making their first NCAA postseason appearance since finishing as the Division II National Runner-Up in 2019.

Assumption is making its third consecutive NCAA postseason appearance, compiling a 14-5 overall record in 2022 after beginning the season with an 0-2 record and a minus-15 goal differential in that span. Since then, the Hounds have lost just one game in regulation, a 2-1 defeat to Pace in the NE10 Quarterfinals last time out.

Tickets may be purchased online prior to the event for $10 (adults), $5 (senior citizens over the age of 65) and $3 (children) via the Assumption Greyhounds ticketing portal. A live webcast is also available, as are Live Statistics courtesy of the Assumption athletics communications department.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM
  • Saint Anselm was ranked second in the most recent iteration of the official NCAA Division II East Region rankings, thanks to winning 12 of the team's last 14 games. In that stretch, the Hawks picked up a 2-1 victory in a shootout over the Greyhounds on Monday, Nov. 7, a victory that led Saint Anselm to a share of the NE10 Regular Season Championship with Assumption.
  • Entering Sunday's fixture with the Hounds, Saint Anselm ranks second nationally in save percentage (0.837), third in goals-against average (0.82), third in assists per game (2.50) and fifth in shots per game (0.40).
  • Dating back to the start of the 2015 season, Saint Anselm has won 113 games with only 33 losses (77.3%). The Hawks have won at least 14 games in each of those campaigns outside of the 2020-21 pandemic-shortened season that was completed with a 1-0 record.
  • When playing at Grappone Stadium since 2015, the Hawks have won 67 out of a possible 77 games, a winning percentage of 87%. On the road, Saint Anselm is 45-20 (69.2%).
  • Head Coach Carolyn King-Robitaille was named the NE10 Coach of the Year with senior Maggie Malloy (Canton, Mass.) and junior Mackenzie McConnell (Concord Township, Maine) earning the league's and Goaltender of the Year, respectively, on Thursday, Nov. 17. Additionally, four others earned All-Conference or All-Rookie distinction from Saint Anselm.
  • Malloy became the first student-athlete in Saint Anselm history to collect the overall Player of the Year award from the NE10. McConnell is the third Hawks netminder to earn Goalkeeper of the Year since 2016 while King-Robitaille draws Coach of the Year plaudits for the fourth time in her career.
  • Recording 19 goals with seven assists for 45 points (19-7=45), Malloy has established new single-season program records in point scoring (45), goal scoring (10), goals per game (0.95) and shots on goal (68). She also produced a five-game point scoring streak from Oct. 19 through Nov. 5, tallying nine goals with four assists for 22 points (9-4=22) in that span.
  • Malloy has produced five game-winning goals this season, including the only goal in her team's 1-0 victory over Pace on Sept. 24. She also logged three game-winning goals in the span of four games from Oct. 1 through Oct. 8. She needs one more to match the single-season program record established by Carly LaCasse '22 in 2019.
  • Earlier this season, Malloy had a hand in all four goals against Mercy (N.Y.), assisting on the first goal of the game and then scoring each of the next three to create the 4-0 final score. Malloy's seven-point afternoon equaled a program record matched prior by only LaCasse (Oct. 12, 2019 vs. Pace) and Hannah Friend '20 (Sept. 17, 2017 at Saint Thomas Aquinas).
  • Malloy has recorded four hat tricks on the season, doing so against Southern Conn. St. twice (10/8, 11/11), Mercy (N.Y.) (10/22), and Franklin Pierce (10/26). She also has produced multiple-point games 10 times this season.
  • McConnell has produced an .828 save percentage (second in NCAA Division II) so far this season, the second-best rate in single-season team history, and her 0.63 goals-against average is third nationally and second in single-season team history only behind Julia Hand '21, her present-day Assistant Coach, during the National Runner-Up season in 2019.
  • McConnell leads all active NCAA field hockey goalkeepers across Divisions I, II, and III in save percentage (0.837) and trails only Grace Harlan (Middlebury, NCAA Division III) for the national lead in goals-against average by just 0.02. Grace is the daughter of Geoff Harlan, the very first modern-day coach of Saint Anselm football (1997-05).
  • McConnell has posted a 26-10 record in her Saint Anselm career, leading all netminders with a career goals-against average of 0.81 while producing 13 career shutouts, recently passing Katherine Sears '17 to capture second place all-time.
  • Leading the Hawks from the bench, King-Robitaille reached 14 victories in a season for the seventh time in her career in 2022, propelling her team back to the NE10 Semifinals and the NCAA postseason. The owner of a 133-65 (.672) career record, the Hawks were a combined 49-139 (.261) in program history prior to her hiring in 2012.
  • With a .672 winning percentage, King-Robitaille ranks second among active NCAA Division II head coaches with at least 10 seasons of experience, trailing only West Chester's Amy Cohen (.697). Her 133 coaching victories is eighth among present-day coaches in Division II.
  • Graduate student Jackie Gaumer (Thornton, N.H.), a Second Team All-Conference pick last season, joined first-time honoree Malloy and second-time selection McConnell on the First Team All-Conference roster while junior Maddie Davis (Exeter, N.H.) was a Second Team All-NE10 pick in 2022.
  • Senior Joanna Archambault (Andover, Mass.) secured Third Team honors for the second consecutive season with freshman Millie Forster (Cholmondeley, Cheshire, England) named to the All-Rookie Team.
  • Gaumer, a key member of the Hawks defense, has helped Saint Anselm to the nation's third-finest goals-against average (0.82) and the country's ninth-best winning percentage (0.700). She has helped limit Saint Anselm opponents to just 8.5 shot attempts against per game and just 105 shots on goal cumulatively in 20 games (5.25/game).
  • Davis has enjoyed a breakout offensive campaign for the Hawks, setting the team's single-season record with 12 assists. Posting 32 points (10-12=32), she ranks fourth in single-season history and recently saw a nine-game point scoring streak snapped, producing 10 goals and six assists for 26 points in that span. Her 32 points is tied for fourth in single-season history and her 0.6 assists per games, if the season ended, would be tops in Hawks history.
  • Davis matched a program record with four assists in her team's 8-0 victory over Saint Michael's on Saturday, Sept. 17. The Hawks, who also shattered the program record for assist in a game (nine), generated 25 points of offense, trailing the all-time record of 26 set against New Haven on Oct. 7, 2017.
  • Archambault has been an integral part of a Hawks defense that has conceded just 10 goals across the last 14 games. A key force on the team's penalty corner opportunities as well, she has scored two goals on the season and captured NE10 Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 24 after scoring the game-winning goal against Southern New Hampshire the week prior.
  • Forster helped the Hawks carry play through the midfield in 2022, scoring a goal and an assist for three points (1-1=3) for Saint Anselm. She has aided the team to 8.5 points of offense per game in 2022, the second-finest mark in program history, and her play is a big part of the team racking up 2.6 assists per tilt, a mark that would stand as the finest in team history if the season ended today.
SCOUTING ASSUMPTION
  • Coached by Annie Lahey, a 2002 graduate of Holy Cross, the Greyhounds have won double-digit games in each of the last eight seasons, including a program-record 20 victories in 2021. The Hounds have compiled a 40-12 (.769) record since the start of the 2019 campaign.
  • Five student-athletes were named to All-Conference teams by the Northeast-10, including First Team picks Kylie Gargiulo and Christina Leonard. Gargiulo ranks fifth in the NE10 in goals-against average (1.51) and seventh in save percentage (0.760) while Leonard is fourth in the league with 0.63 goals per game.
  • Among active netminders, Gargiulo ranks first in goalkeeping victories (47), third in career save percentage (0.805) and fifth in goals-against average (1.15).
  • Leonard scored each of her team's first five goals in a 6-1 victory over Franklin Pierce on Wednesday, Oct. 19, earning National Offensive Player of the Week merits from the NFHCA.
  • Lucy Malia, a Second Team All-NE10 midfielder, is a key member of the Greyhounds midfield while Mia Salah also earned Second Team plaudits, ranking sixth in the NE10 in assists per game (0.44) and checking in with 1.33 points per game (ninth in the conference).
  • Hannah Tepper, a Third Team All-Conference selection, helped Assumption log 0.37 shutouts per game on defense, ranking second in the NE10 behind Saint Anselm and eighth nationally.
LAST TIME OUT
  • After securing a 2-1 victory over Southern New Hampshire to open the NE10 postseason, Saint Anselm recorded a 2-1 loss to visiting Adelphi University in double-overtime on Friday, Nov. 18 in the Northeast-10 Conference Semifinals.
  • Adelphi (12-8) conceded the first goal of the game to the Hawks before 2021 NE10 Player of the Year Kaylee Deleva scored both the game-tying goal in the fourth quarter as well as the double-overtime winner in the game's 73rd minute. The Panthers entered the game on the bubble as an NCAA postseason team, but recently claimed the third NCAA postseason spot in the East Region after winning the NE10 Championship on Sunday, Nov. 20.
  • Adelphi is the only team to defeat the Hawks twice in 2022 as Deleva scored all three of her team's goals in those victories, including two game-winning overtime strikes.
ALL-TIME vs. ASSUMPTION
  • With a victory in the shootout over the Greyhounds during the regular season, Saint Anselm has now captured the 17-16 edge in the all-time series with Assumption that dates back to its program inception in 2001.
  • Saint Anselm lost the first seven games in the all-time series and later added a six-game winning streak over the Greyhounds that spanned from Sept. 8, 2016 through Nov. 16, 2018.
  • Prior to the shootout victory for Saint Anselm, which goes down as a 2-1 team win, each of the prior three games in the all-time series with Assumption were decided by 1-0 final scores, two of them won by the Greyhounds. Each of the game-winning goals was scored in the fourth quarter or in overtime.
  • Saint Anselm is 4-11 when playing on the road against Assumption, but 13-5 when playing at the friendly confines of the Hilltop.
ALL-TIME, NCAA POSTSEASON
  • Saint Anselm owns a 2-4 record in NCAA postseason play all-time dating back to the 2016 campaign. That season, the Hawks won a First Round game at home over Stonehill, 3-1, before falling in overtime to LIU in the national semifinals. 
  • Most recently, in 2019, the Hawks finished as the National Runner-Up after getting past No. 2-ranked East Stroudsburg in the national semifinals in double-overtime. The Hawks would eventually fall, 2-1, to top-ranked West Chester in the national championship game played on the campus of Millersville University.
  • Assumption has qualified for each of the last three NCAA postseasons and remains in search of the program's first victory, falling in the First Round on two occasions. 
  • The Greyhounds fell by a 1-0 score against East Stroudsburg on Nov. 16, 2019 before dropping a 3-0 decision to West Chester on Nov. 19, 2021, finishing a stellar season with a 20-2 overall record.
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