Bensaia Scores OT Game Winner at UMass Lowell

Friday, October 6

Lowell, MA

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

(5-6, 2-1AE)

University of Massachusetts Lowell

(6-7, 1-2AE)

OT 2

New Hampshire

UMass Lowell

Photo by: Greg Greene

10/6/2017 11:07:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

LOWELL, Mass. – Gianna Bensaia (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) scored 12:27 into overtime to lift the University of New Hampshire field hockey team to Friday night's 2-1 victory against UMass Lowell at Cushing Field.

Nicky Bajus (Lions Bay, British Columbia) tied the score, 1-1, at 59:51 and Bensaia's first goal of the year ended the game at 82:27. Kelsey Rudert (North Grafton, Mass.) recorded a season-high nine saves with eight stops in the first half and one in the extra session.

UML goalie Eva Berkhout was credited with 12 saves, including seven in the second half and two in OT.

UNH improves to 5-6 overall and 2-1 in America East while the River Hawks are now 6-7, 1-2.

UP NEXT

UNH returns to action at home Oct. 8 against 11^th-ranked University of Louisville. Start time at Memorial Field is 12 p.m.

GAME INFO
Date: October 6, 2017
Location: Cushing Field (Lowell, Mass.)
Attendance: 129
Score: UNH 2, UMass Lowell 1 [overtime]
Updated Records: UNH (5-6, 2-1 America East), UMass Lowell (6-7, 1-2 America East)

GAME RECAP

UMass Lowell took a 1-0 lead at 23:28 when Torri Huk scored on a one-timer from the left side. Christa Doiron made the crossing pass to set up the tally.
The River Hawks took that one-goal advantage and a 12-7 shot advantage into halftime.
UNH dominated play in the second half and that resulted in a sizable edge in both shots (21-0) and penalty corners (9-0).
The Wildcats tied the score, 1-1, on a direct corner at 59:51. Bloem van den Brekel (Eindhoven, Netherlands) inserted a pass to the top of the circle, where Rachel Bossi (Chelmsford, Mass.) stopped the ball and Bajus blasted a shot into the cage.
At the end of regulation, UNH held the advantage in both shots (28-12) and corners (13-4).
Bensaia completed the comeback at 82:25 when she dribbled past two defenders and fired a reverse-stick shot into the bottom-left corner of the cage.

UNH NOTEBOOK

New Hampshire improved to 6-1 lifetime against UMass Lowell.
The Wildcats are 3-1 in overtime games this season.
UNH recorded season highs in shots (34) and corners (14).

SHOTS: UNH 7-21-6–34. UML 12-0-1–13.

PENALTY CORNERS: UNH 4-9-1-14. UML 4-0-0–4.

GOALS
UNH (2): Nicky Bajus, Gianna Bensaia
UML (1): Torrie Huk

ASSISTS
UNH (2): Rachel Bossi, Bloem van den Brekel
UML (1): Christa Doiron

SAVES
UNH: Kelsey Rudert 8-0-1–9 (82:27; 1 GA) [WIN]
UML: Eva Berkhout 4-6-2–12 (82:27; 2 GA) [loss]

DEFENSIVE SAVES
UNH (0)
UML (1) Kelly Mankowich