Mariani's Goal Lifts 'Cats Past #21 UAlbany, 4-3, in 2OT

Friday, October 11

Albany, N.Y.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

(7-5 (1-1))

Albany

(9-4 (1-1))

New Hampshire

UAlbany

Photo by: Bruce Dudek

10/11/2019 4:50:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

ALBANY, N.Y. – Freshman Ava Mariani (Easton, Pa.) scored two goals and classmate Jemma Woods (Frimley, England) made a career-high nine saves to lead the University of New Hampshire field hockey team to Friday afternoon's 4-3 double-overtime win against the University at Albany at Alumni Turf.

Mariani, who gave the Wildcats a 3-0 second-quarter lead, scored with 2:30 remaining n the second extra period to end the game. Woods made three of her nine saves in that second OT session.

Bloem van den Brekel (Eindhoven, Netherlands) recorded a goal and an assist. Kayla Sliz (Ajax, Ontario) scored UNH's other goal.

UAlbany goalkeeper Melissa Nealon finished with six saves.

UNH won its second consecutive game and second against a nationally-ranked team this season to improve to 7-5 overall and 1-1 in America East. UAlbany, which entered the game on an eight-game winning streak, is now 9-4, 1-1.

UP NEXT // NEXT HOME GAME
·       UNH returns to action Oct. 13 (1 p.m.) at Providence College.
·       The Wildcats' next home game is Friday, Oct. 18 (6 p.m.) vs. UMass Lowell.

COACH'S QUIP
"This was a great job holding off a strong Albany team," UNH head coach Robin Balducci said. "We came out strong, but you can only keep them down so long. But Jemma came up big in the OT for us with some point-blank shots she turned away. And, of course, a great performance from another youngster, Ava, coming up with two goals today."

1^st QUARTER

UAlbany recorded a 4-1 shot advantage in the scoreless opening 15 minutes.

2^nd QUARTER

UNH earned a corner in the opening minute and van den Brekel's shot was blocked but resulted in another corner, and this time Sliz converted a pass from van den Brekel into a goal and 1-0 lead at 16:16.
Sliz nearly struck again in the 18^th minute when her shot caromed off the post and then her shot off the rebound beat Nealon but was kept out of the cage by defender Rachel Schannauer.
The Wildcats maintained pressure, however, and van den Brekel scored on a direct shot from the top of the circle on a corner at 17:40 to increase the advantage to 2-0. The battery of Jaiden Wittel (Stroudsburg, Pa.) and Maura Verleg (Geldrop, Netherlands) set up the tally.
On another corner, van den Brekel's shot ricocheted off the post but Mariani deposited the rebound into the cage for a 3-0 lead at 26:39.
UNH tallied an 8-1 shot advantage and 5-1 edge in corners in the second quarter.

3^rd QUARTER

The Great Danes pulled within 3-1 on Dana Bozek's goal at 33:56. They recorded four shots and held New Hampshire without a shot in the quarter.

4^th QUARTER

UNH generated a corner in the opening minute of the final frame. Van den Brekel's direct shot was stopped by Nealon, then a reverse-stick shot was chipped over the cage.
Katie MacCullum corralled a rebound and scored to lift the Great Danes within 3-2 at 40:16.
Elaina Burchell lifted a loose ball in the middle of the circle into the cage to tie the score, 3-3, at 49:24. Woods had made the initial stop to deny MacCallum.
Woods denied Bozek in the 57^th minute to keep the score deadlocked.
UAlbany was awarded a corner with 1:21 on the clock. The Great Danes played a short corner in which the shot was blocked, but the home team sustained pressure and earned another corner. Once again, Bozek's shot was blocked and this time UAlbany was called for a foul inside the circle.

1^st OVERTIME

UNH shut down the Great Danes' attack in the first 10-minute OT session, as the home team did not record a shot or corner.
The Wildcats generated three shots, one on goal in the 61^st minute by Finn Caron (Hampton, N.H.) and another by Mariani in the closing seconds.

2^nd OVERTIME

UNH had the first scoring chance in double OT – 40 seconds after the whistle – but van den Brekel's shot was stopped by Nealon.
UAlbany carried play for a three-minute span in which the Great Danes recorded four shots – three on goal – and three corners.
The Wildcats began to wrest away control of the game. On a corner in the 76^th minute, van den Brekel's shot from the top of the circle was knocked away by Nealon.
Mariani corralled a pass from Nicky Bajus (Lions Bay, British Columbia) deep on the right side, maneuvered past Nealon on the end line and shot the ball into the open cage at 77:30.

UNH NOTEBOOK

New Hampshire is 2-0 in games decided by regulation this season. The Wildcats upended Dartmouth College, also on the road by a 4-3 score in double OT.
Mariani has scored a total of four goals this year; three have been game-winning tallies.
Woods improved her record to 7-3 in 11 games (10 starts).

SHOTS: UNH 1-8-0-3-3-3–18. UA 4-1-4-5-0-4–18.

PENALTY CORNERS: UNH 1-5-0-1-1-1–9. UA 1-1-1-3-0-3–9.

GOALS
UNH (4) – Ava Mariani (2), Kayla Sliz, Bloem van den Brekel
UA (3) – Dana Bozek, Elaina Burchell, Katie MacCallum

ASSISTS
UNH (4) – Nicky Bajus, Kayla Sliz, Bloem van den Brekel, Jaiden Wittel
UA (1) – Katie MacCallum

SAVES
UNH: Jemma Woods 2-0-2-2-0-3–9 (77:300; 3 GA) [WIN]
UA: Melissa Nealon 0-0-0-2-2-2–6 (77:30; 4 GA) [loss]

DEFENSIVE SAVES
UNH (0)
UA (1) – Rachel Schannauer