Rize Records Career-High Eight Saves; Field Hockey Falls 4-2 at Dartmouth

Sunday, September 6

Hanover, N.H.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

(2-1)

Dartmouth College

(1-1)

New Hampshire

Dartmouth

Rize Records Career-High Eight Saves; Field Hockey Falls 4-2 at Dartmouth

9/6/2015 4:14:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

HANOVER, N.H. – Melissa Rize (Severn, Md.) recorded a career-high eight saves but the University of New Hampshire field hockey team was defeated 4-2 by intrastate rival Dartmouth College on Sunday afternoon at Chase Field.

UNH moves to 1-2 this season while Dartmouth, which had lost four straight in the series vs. the Wildcats, is 1-1. The Big Green tallied the advantage in shots (17-16) and shots on goal (12-6); UNH had a 6-5 edge in penalty corners.

Rize made four saves in each half to finish with her personal best of eight. Katie Audino (Severn, Md.) and Ashley Mendonca (Brampton, Ontario) scored UNH's goals and Jackie Hozza (Sinking Spring, Pa.) was credited with an assist.

Dartmouth was led offensively by Eliza Becker (one goal, one assist). Julia Donald, Heather Zezzo and Rebecca Hu scored the Big Green's other goals. Paige Duffy made two saves in both the first and second half for a total of four.

DC controlled play early in the game and, in the fourth minute, earned a penalty corner that resulted in Clare Detrick-Yee's shot being stopped by Rize. Anna Ewasechko's shot was blocked at 5:50, but it resulted in a corner for the home team. Brooke Van Valkenburg's initial shot was also blocked , but Gemma Bautista corralled the ball and her shot on target was turned aside by Rize. The play yielded another Dartmouth corner, however, and this time Rize denied Van Valkenburg to keep the game scoreless.

UNH generated a penalty corner in the 10^th minute. The Wildcats swung the ball from the top of the circle to the left wing, where Hozza's shot was blocked by a DC defender. The 'Cats received another corner, however, and this time a direct shot off the stick of Lindsey Nerbonne (Bow, N.H.) was knocked away by a field player.

New Hampshire continued to carry momentum. In the 14^th minute, Taylor Scafidi (Waltham, Mass.) had a dangerous shot that was stopped by Duffy. One minute later, DC yielded another corner to UNH and Mendonca's shot was blocked.

Becker gave the Big Green a 1-0 lead at 20:40 when she dribbled into the right side of the circle and lifted a high shot into the cage.

The Wildcats rallied to tie the score less than three minutes later. From the middle of the circle, Hozza's shot was kicked away by Duffy. Hozza immediately tackled the ball away from a DC player, drove to the right end line and slipped a centering pass back to the middle of the circle, where Audino fired a one-timer inside the left post to tie the score, 1-1, at 23:37.

Neither team recorded a shot on goal the rest of the half. DC held the statistical edge in shots (9-7) and corners (4-3) in the opening 35 minutes.

Dartmouth capitalized on a transition attack to regain the lead, 2-1, at 38:26. Becker led the 2-on-1 rush on the right wing and slipped the ball past the defender to the middle of the circle, where Donald settled the pass and shot inside the right post with Rize down on the ground.

In the 45^th minute, Meg Flatley (Townsend, Mass.) had a breakaway down the middle of the field. Duffy charged from the goal line and Flatley pushed the ball wide left. With a Big Green defender pressuring, Flatley turned and fired a shot wide of the near post.

One minute later, Flatley created another dangerous scoring chance by cutting right-to-left across the middle of the circle before lifting a reverse-stick shot high of the crossbar.

UNH continued to apply offensive pressure. In the 48^th minute, Flatley was at the top of the circle and threaded a pass down low, where Meg Carroll (Mansfield, Mass.) jammed a point-blank shot that was kicked out by Duffy. One minute later, Carroll, positioned in the middle of the circle, extended her stick to redirect a shot over the crossbar.

The Wildcats were next to generate a scoring chance by gaining a penalty corner in the 54^th minute. Mendonca's low, hard shot from the top-left side was tipped barely wide of the left post by Scafidi.

Dartmouth quickly advanced the ball to the other end of the field and extended the lead to 3-1 at 54:01. Zezzo corralled Sarah Tabeek's centering pass from the left side and was denied on her first shot, but Zezzo collected the rebound and immediately deposited a shot inside the right post.

UNH called time out at 55:33 and earned a corner at 56:16, but Nerbonne's direct shot was blocked out by a defender.

The Wildcats converted the next corner into a goal to trim the deficit to 3-2 at 63:05. Medonca's initial shot from the top-left was stopped by a charging Big Green defender, but Mendonca pulled in the rebound and fired a low shot inside the left post.

DC called time out 26 seconds later, but UNH regained possession and a long hit by Chandler Giese (Trappe, Pa.) was redirected wide left of the cage.

The Big Green transformed a restart at midfield into a goal and 4-2 lead at 68:03 when Hu scored off a loose ball in a scrum in front of the cage. DC kept the 'Cats at bay the rest of the way to secure the victory.

New Hampshire returns to action Sept. 11 (6 p.m.) at No.-1 ranked UConn. The Wildcats' home opener is Sept. 13 (2 p.m.) against Northeastern University.