van den Brekel Scores Overtime Goal in 3-2 Win vs. Columbia

Sunday, October 24

Durham, N.H.

2 PM

University of New Hampshire

(6-10)

Columbia

(7-7)

Columbia

New Hampshire

Photo by: Larissa Biette

10/24/2021 8:33:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – Senior captain Bloem van den Brekel (Eindhoven, Netherlands) scored two goals, including the game winner in overtime, to lift the University of New Hampshire field hockey team to Sunday afternoon's 3-2 victory against Columbia University at Memorial Field.

van den Brekel tied the score, 2-2, with 5:04 remaining in regulation and lifted the Wildcats to victory with 21 seconds left in the first overtime session. Classmate Tia Raspante (Sandwich, Mass.) scored UNH's other goal.

Junior goalkeeper Jemma Woods (Frimley, England) was credited with three saves and she did not have to make a stop in the extra session.

Columbia was led offensively by Ellie Decker (one goal, one assist). Goalie Alexa Conomikes was credited with 11 saves, including one in OT, and Emily Maclean made a defensive save.

UNH extended its winning streak to three games to improve to 6-10 overall. Columbia is now 7-7.

"Obviously today's game was an emotional day, a meaningful day for our seniors, and to have Tia and Bloem kind of forge our comeback was just how you would write up the script," UNH head coach Robin Balducci said.

PHOTO GALLERY
Scoreboard_Home_FH_10.24.2021

LOOKING AHEAD

New Hampshire closes the regular season with home games Oc. 29 (3 p.m.) vs. Stanford and Oct. 31 (1 p.m.) against Maine.

FIRST QUARTER

UNH had a 4-0 shot advantage and 2-0 edge in penalty corners in the scoreless first quarter.
Senior captain Isabelle Danahy (Chelmsford, Mass.) recorded the first shot of the game in the third minute, but it was blocked by a Lions' defender.
The next shot attempt was not until the 13^th minute, when junior Ava Mariani (Easton, Pa.) send a shot wide right of the cage.
van den Brekel recorded the first shot on target, but she was denied by Conomikes with 44 seconds on the clock.

SECOND QUARTER

New Hampshire had a 5-4 edge in shots and the corners were even 2-2 in the second quarter.
Columbia scored goals 96 seconds apart to quickly turn a scoreless game into a 2-0 lead.
Decker scored at 21:25 when her low shot from the top of the circle went into the cage.
Jeannine Turgeon made it 2-0 at 23:01. Decker's pass from the middle of the circle found Turgeon low on the right side for the score.
The Wildcats pressured with four shots in the last two minutes of the opening half.
Senior Finn Caron (Hampton, N.H.) beat Conomikes with a shot to the right post, but Maclean was in position to stop the ball and keep the 'Cats scoreless.
Conomikes then denied both junior Molly McAteer (Annapolis, Md.) and classmate Jaiden Wittel (Stroudsburg, Pa.) in the closing minute.

THIRD QUARTER

UNH dominated play to produce a 9-1 shot advantage and 5-1 edge in corners in the scoreless third quarter.
Woods made a save against Annabelle Brodeur in the 34^th minute, and that proved to be the only shot for the visitors in the quarter.
Conomikes stopped shots by Raspante and sophomore Lindsay Lee (Eindhoven, Netherlands) 12 seconds apart in the 37^th minute to keep Columbia's lead at 2-0.
In the 41^st minute, Conomikes denied the initial shot by van den Brekel as well as the shot off the rebound by junior Leah Glidden (Kittery, Maine).

FOURTH QUARTER

The Wildcats had a 5-1 shot advantage and 3-0 edge in corners to score a pair of goals and force overtime.
In transition, Mariani entered at the top of the circle and maneuvered to the right side before centering a pass that Raspante jammed into the cage to trim UNH's deficit to 2-1 at 48:58.
The Wildcats tied the score on the next shot of the game, van den Brekel's direct shot from the top of the circle off a corner at 54:56. The battery of Lee (insert) and senior captain Tori Palumbo (Ayer, Mass.; stick-stop) set up the tally.
The 'Cats continued to pressure and Mariani's shot ricocheted off the post at 55:28.
UNH was awarded another corner with 55 seconds remaining in regulation. Conomikes stopped another van den Brekel blast on a direct shot, and Caron's attempt off the rebound was blocked.

OVERTIME

New Hampshire recorded the only two shots of the extra session.
Mariani's bid at 67:11 was stopped by Conomikes.
With time winding down, van den Brekel dribbled into the top of the circle, pivoted and struck a reverse-stick rising shot that went under the crossbar to end the game at 69:39.

MORE FROM HEAD COACH ROBIN BALDUCCI
"Bloem has been amazing in her career and carries the team, carries a lot of weight on her shoulders for the team, so for her to finish today off that way with the tying goal and then the winning goal and the type of goal she scored was highlight kind of scoring."

"I think our seniors were the reason that a game like today goes the way it does where we stay in it, we come back and finish it off. We don't do that kind of thing without great leadership and that speaks volumes for these six. They're impressive leaders both on and off the field and I couldn't be happier for them. Such an exciting way to win."

GAME NOTEBOOK

UNH finished with a 25-6 shot advantage (15-5 on goal) and 12-3 edge in corners.
van den Brekel led all players with seven shots (six on goal).

UNH NOTEBOOK

van den Brekel increased her team-leading goal total to eight and she moved to the top of the points leaderboard with 17.
Lee now has a team-high seven assists, and she ranks second with 15 points.
Lee has recorded an assist in three consecutive games and has six points (1g, 3a) in that span.
Palumbo has six assists, which ranks second on the squad. She has an assist in four of the last five games.
Raspante has two goals this season.
UNH has outscored the opposition 11-3 during the three-game winning streak.

SENIOR DAY

New Hampshire honored its six seniors prior to the game. They are Caron, Danahy, Christina Hathaway (Norfolk, Mass.), Palumbo, Raspante, and van den Brekel.

SERIES NOTEBOOK