Field Hockey Upended 4-1 at No. 19 Maine

Friday, October 16

Orono, Maine

3 PM

University of New Hampshire

(5-8, 2-2)

University of Maine

(14-2, 4-0)

New Hampshire

Maine

10/16/2015 7:05:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

ORONO, Maine – Lindsey Nerbonne (Bow, N.H.) gave the University of New Hampshire field hockey team an early 1-0 lead, but the 19^th-ranked University of Maine stormed back to record a 4-1 victory Friday afternoon at the Maine FH Complex.

UNH, which had won the previous seven matchups against Maine, is now 5-8 overall and 2-2 in America East. Maine, which hadn't defeated the Wildcats since 2009 and hadn't won at home against the 'Cats since '06, won its seventh consecutive game to improve to 14-2, 4-0.

Nerbonne scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season on an unassisted tally at 7:25. Melissa Rize (Severn, Md.) made four saves.

Jessica Skillings led the Black Bears' attack with a goal and two assists. Sydney Veljacic, Marissa Shaw and Samantha Wagg scored the other goals. Starting goalkeeper Emily Corbett played the first half and was credited with two saves as well as the win. Emma Cochran shut out UNH in the second half with a three-save effort.

Maine recorded a 15-10 shot advantage that included 8-6 on goal. New Hampshire had a 10-5 edge in penalty corners.

The Black Bears generated the first scoring threat 90 seconds into the game when Skillings gained possession off a UNH turnover inside the 25 and dribbled into the circle deep on the right side in a 1-v-1 against Rize, who dropped down to make a sliding save with her leg pads stacked.

In the fifth minute, Rize was once again tested but she denied Casey Crowley from the top-right as well as off the rebound from 10 feet.

The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead at 7:25 on Nerbonne's goal. Emma Compagna (Canton, Mass.) initiated the sequence when she intercepted a pass near midfield, pivoted past a defender and carried the ball past a second defender on the left wing to the 25. Compagna's crossing entry pass found Nerbonne, who maneuvered around a defender and poked the ball between Corbett's legs.

Maine turned a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead with tallies 2:37 apart by Shaw and Skillings. Shaw tied the score, 1-1, at 18:48 when Ella Mosky advanced along the right end line and found Shaw in front, where she deposited a shot inside the left post. Skillings converted a pass from Adriana Martineau into the go-ahead – and game-winning goal – at 21:25.

In the 29^th minute, Maine generated a corner and swung the ball to the top left of the circle, where Crowley's shot deflected off a UNH defender's stick over the crossbar.

Three minutes later, the 'Cats were awarded a corner and Nerbonne's low blast on a direct shot was stopped by Corbett.

The Black Bears entered halftime with a 2-1 lead on a 10-4 shot advantage that included 6-3 on goal. UNH outcornered the home team 2-1.

New Hampshire penetrated the circle in the opening minutes of the second half and earned a couple of corners, the second of which featured a series of passes that produced a Jackie Hozza (Sinking Spring, Pa.) shot from the top left that rolled wide of the far post.

Maine converted a corner into a 3-1 lead at 41:53 when Veljacic struck a reverse stick shot from the top of the circle inside the left post.

In the 47^th minute, UNH pressure led to Mendonca's shot that was saved by Cochran and a series of six consecutive corners. Nerbonne and Mendonca had shots blocked on the first two, and Cochran denied Hozza on the third corner. The 'Cats did not get a shot on the fourth corner, but were awarded a fifth straight corner in which Nerbonne's direct shot was blocked. The sixth, and final, corner produced Menconca's direct shot from the top of the circle that was blocked away by Cochran.

The Wildcats did not record a shot the rest of the game, however, and Maine pushed the lead to 4-1 on a penalty-corner goal scored by Wagg.

New Hampshire returns to action Oct. 18 (2 p.m.) at Harvard University. The Wildcats' next home game is Oct. 25 (1 p.m.) against the University at Albany.

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