Mendonca Records Goal, Defensive Save in 2-1 Loss at No. 13 BC

Friday, October 14

Chestnut Hill, MA

6 PM

University of New Hampshire

(3-10, 1-4Am.East)

Boston College

(7-6, 3-3ACC)

New Hampshire

Boston College

Mendonca Records Goal, Defensive Save in 2-1 Loss at No. 13 BC

10/14/2016 11:32:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

NEWTON, Mass. – Ashley Mendonca (Brampton, Ontario) gave the University of New Hampshire field hockey team an early lead, but 13^th-ranked Boston College rallied to take the lead and fended off the Wildcats for a 2-1 victory at the Newton Field Hockey Complex on Friday night.

UNH is now 3-10 and BC improved to 7-6.

GAME INFO
Date: October 14, 2016
Location: Newton Field Hockey Complex (Newton, Mass.)
Attendance: 115
Score: BC 2, UNH 1
Updated Records: UNH (3-10), BC (7-6)

NEXT GAME: Sunday, Oct. 16 at Albany, 1 pm
NEXT HOME GAME: Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Vermont, 3 pm

Game Recap

BC controlled play the opening six minutes with a penalty corner and two shots on goal, both of which were turned aside by UNH goalkeeper Kesley Rudert (North Grafton, Mass.).
UNH generated pressure in the 11^th minute that generated successive penalty corners and a 1-0 lead. Mendonca's shot on the initial corner was blocked, but on the next set play she blasted a direct shot from the top of the circle into the cage at 11:11 for her eighth goal of the season.
The battery of Katie Audino (Severn, Md.) as the insert and Gianna Bensaia (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) as the stick-stop set up the tally.
New Hampshire generated back-to-back corners in the 13^th minute, but a shot off the stick of Lindsey Nerbonne (Bow, N.H.) was blocked and then Mendonca's bid was stopped by BC goalie Audra Hampsch.
BC's Brooke Matherson tied the score 1-1, on an untimed penalty corner at the end of the first half.
The Eagles took a 2-1 lead on the first shot of the second half, and Eryn McCoy blast from the top of the circle at 40:58.
UNH called a timeut at 54:35. Four minutes later, the 'Cats generated a corner but the shot by Jessica Schmidt (Warrington, Pa.) was blocked by a defender.
BC was awarded a corner in the 61^st minute and sustained pressure led to five shots, four of which were blocked.
Neither team threatened again inside the circle until the Eagles generated a corner in the 67^th minute. Rudert denied Frederique Haverhals, and on the subsequent corner McCoy shot the ball wide of the cage.

UNH NOTEBOOK

UNH has lost three consecutive games, all by one goal. The Wildcats are now 2-5 in games decided by one goal this season.
This was the last non-conference regular season game of 2016. UNH went 2-7 against outside of America East.

'CAT NIPS

Mendonca moved into a tie atop UNH's goals leaderboard with Nerbonne.
Mendonca was also credited with a defensive save, her second of the season.
Bensaia increased her team-leading assist total to 10. She has three assists the past two games.

QUOTABLE

"We played a very good first half. We created scoring opportunities. We pressed them. We did a good job of building an attack. All of that. Overall, it was a good performance." – UNH head coach Robin Balducci

SHOTS: UNH 9-1–10. BC 10-10–20.

PENALTY CORNERS: UNH 6-1–7. BC 5-4–9.

GOALS
UNH (1): Ashley Mendonca.
BC (2): Brooke Matherson, Eryn McCoy.

ASSISTS
UNH (2): Katie Audino, Gianna Bensaia.
BC (1): Frederique Haverhals.

SAVES
UNH: Kelsey Rudert 5 (70:00; 2 GA)
BC: Audra Hampsch (70:00; 1 GA)

DEFENSIVE SAVES
UNH (1): Ashley Mendonca
BC (0)