Field Hockey Scores Late to Defeat New England College

Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University field hockey team tallied a late second half goal to defeated New England College 2-1 this afternoon in non-conference action at Maple Street Field.   

With the win the Rams improve to 3-0 on the season, while the Pilgrims are now 1-5.

The Pilgrims got on the board first with just over 22 minutes left in the opening half.  The visitors had an offensive flurry around the net where they fired off a couple shots and senior Kelly Metz (Liberty Township, Ohio) finally knocked home a rebound for the 1-0 lead.

The Rams appeared to tie the score four minutes later when senior Brittany Goben (New Bedford, Mass.) blasted a shot into the back of the cage, but the tally was waved off by the officials. They finally got on the board with the equalizer with 5:29 left in the frame.  Senior Cassandra Koegel (Groveland, Mass.) carried the ball into the circle and laid off a pass to sophomore Cady Kelly (Canton, Mass.) who redirected the ball into the back of the net for her team leading fifth goal of the season.

The game remained tied at 1-1 despite both teams having their chances early in the second half. The Pilgrims applied the offensive pressure and were award a series of penalty corner that they were unable to capitalize on, while the Rams had several scoring chance but could not find the back of the net.

Finally, with 3:24 remaining in the game the Rams were able to strike for the game winner.  Goben fired a shot on goal from inside the circle that Pilgrim goalie Courtney Duquette (Enfield, N.H.) was able to deflect away.  Junior Rhea Urbaniak (Chelmsford, Mass.) was right there to corral the rebound and fired another shot on the cage that was deflected by sophomore Alina Willing (Natick, Mass.) for the game winning marker.

Freshman Sarah Palace (Auburn, Mass.) recorded the victory in net for the Rams making two saves in a scoreless second half of action, while Duquette was tagged with the loss despite making 18 stops.

The Rams return to action on Saturday afternoon when they open Little East Conference action at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at 1 p.m., while the Pilgrims host Gordon College on Saturday also at 1 p.m.