van den Brekel's Goal Lifts Wildcats Past Ohio, 1-0

Saturday, August 28

Louisville, Kent.

3 PM

University of New Hampshire

(1-0)

Ohio University

(0-2)

OHIO

New Hampshire

Photo by: Michelle Bronner

8/28/2021 6:08:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Redshirt senior Bloem van den Brekel (Eindhoven, Netherlands) scored the game's only goal and junior Jemma Woods (Frimley, England) recorded five saves to lead the University of New Hampshire field hockey team to Saturday afternoon's 1-0 victory against Ohio University at the University of Louisville's Trager Stadium.

van den Brekel broke the scoreless tie with a direct shot on a penalty corner at 43:24 and Woods stopped all five shots on target, including two in both the second and fourth quarters, to record her third career shutout.

"This was a good first one out of the gates," UNH head coach Robin Balducci said. "Tough conditions because of the extreme heat. This was a great team effort. The young kids stepped up. Jemma was tough. And it was a great finish for us to hold them off."

Ohio goalie Macy Lotze entered the game at the start of the third quarter. She was credited with two saves, allowed one goal and was charged with the loss. Starting goalie Nele Graner made one save in the opening 30 minutes.

This was the season opener for UNH. Ohio is now 0-2.

UP NEXT

UNH returns to action Aug. 29 (2 p.m.) at No. 5 University of Louisville.
The Wildcats' home opener is Sunday, Sept. 19 (12 p.m.) against No. 7 Boston College.

FIRST QUARTER

The shots were even, 1-1, and Ohio recorded the only penalty corner in the opening 15 minutes.
The Bobcats recorded the first shot of the game in the sixth minute, but Woods denied Jillian Shive.
One minute later, Ohio generated pressure to earn a corner, but that did not produce a shot.
UNH's first shot of the season came off the stick of junior Ava Mariani (Easton, Pa.), but it was blocked by an Ohio defender.

SECOND QUARTER

Ohio, the designated visitors for this neutral-site game, had a 3-1 shot advantage, including 2-1 on goal, and had the lone corner of the second quarter.
Katelyn Whittle beat Woods with a shot at 19:42, but it ricocheted off the post to keep the game scoreless.
The Bobcats earned a corner less than a minute later, and Woods blocked aside Ashley Wilbur's shot.
New Hampshire responded with pressure at the other end of the field. Mariani's shot was on target this time, but Graner made the save.
Woods tallied another save when she denied Mike Bultje in the 24^th minute.

THIRD QUARTER

The Wildcats recorded a 3-1 shot advantage, including 2-0 on goal, with a 2-1 edge in corners in the third quarter.
An Ohio corner led to a shot by Leah Warren, but it was blocked by a Wildcat defender.
Lotze's first shot faced resulted in a save to thwart senior Finn Caron (Hampton, N.H.) in the 37^th minute.
UNH generated its first penalty corner of the game in the 39^th minute. The insert by sophomore Lindsay Lee (Eindhoven, Netherlands) produced a shot by van den Brekel that was blocked by a Bobcats' defender.
The next scoring opportunity for both teams was on UNH's corner in the 44^th minute, and the Wildcats converted that into a goal and 1-0 lead at 43:24.
The insert by junior Jaiden Wittel (Stroudsburg, Pa.) was stopped by senior captain Tori Palumbo (Ayer, Mass.) at the top of the circle, where van den Brekel struck a low shot through traffic that found the back of the cage.

FOURTH QUARTER

The Bobcats tallied a 3-2 shot advantage (2-1 on goal) and had the only corner in the final 15 minutes.
Caron was once again denied by Lotze in the 55^th minute.
Woods preserved UNH's one-goal lead with a save against Kaelyn Long in the 53^rd minute.
Ohio was awarded a corner with 3:09 remaining in regulation and Warren fired a shot on goal that was stopped by Woods.
Neither team recorded a shot the rest of the game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Ohio finished with the edge in shots (8-7), shots on goal (5-4) and corners (4-2).
Neither team was credited with a defensive save.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Prior to Saturday, the last time UNH shut out an opponent in a season opener was 1998 (2-1 at UMass).
New Hampshire has a 27-19-1 overall record in season openers and that includes 5-1 the past six seasons.
van den Brekel is UNH's active leader in career goals (21), assists (16) and points (58).
She has five career game-winning goals.
Woods' previous two shutouts were in the 2020-21 season.
Freshmen Ava Clarke (Wellesley, Mass.) and Ella Pratt (Greenwood Village, Colo.) made their collegiate debuts.

SERIES NOTEBOOK

UNH has a 1-2 lifetime record against Ohio University.
Ohio was a 3-1 victor in the inaugural meeting (Sept. 13, 2003 at Michigan), and the Bobcats prevailed 2-1 one year later (at Iowa).