Tasmin Cookman Records Goal & Assist in 3-2 Win vs. Bryant

Friday, September 29

Durham, N.H.

2:00 PM

University of New Hampshire

(7-3, 4-0)

Bryant

(5-5, 0-2)

Bryant

New Hampshire

Photo by: Christian Galatis

9/29/2023 6:56:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – Sophomore forward and captain Tasmin Cookman (Woking, England) recorded a goal and an assist to lead the University of New Hampshire field hockey team to Friday afternoon's 3-2 victory against Bryant University at Memorial Field.

Tamera Cookman (Woking, England) and Kathelijne Knuttel (Groningen, Netherlands) scored UNH's other goals and Nicole Poulakis (Ajax, Ontario) recorded two assists.

Starting goalkeeper Jemma Woods (Frimley, England) did not face a shot on goal in 52 minutes, 55 seconds of action. Mariana Birdthistle (Limerick, Ireland) made four saves in the final 7:05.

Lotte Guitink and Natalie Griffin scored for Bryant, goalie Dieneke Hes stopped eight shots and Brittany Gouws was credited with two defensive saves.

UNH improved to 7-3 overall by remaining unbeaten both at home (5-0) and in America East conference play (4-0). Bryant is now 5-5, 0-2 AE.

UP NEXT

New Hampshire returns to action Oct. 1 (1 p.m.) at Dartmouth College.
The Wildcats' next home game is Oct. 13 (2 p.m.) against the University of Maine for a Border Battle, presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.

FIRST QUARTER

UNH recorded a 5-0 shot advantage and 4-0 edge in penalty corners in the scoreless first quarter.
The Wildcats had all four corners in succession beginning at 9:19. Tamera Cookman was denied by Hes on the first corner, a direct shot off the stick of Abigail Johnson (Lincoln University, Pa.) on the third corner was blocked by a defender. On the fourth corner, Tamera Cookman ripped a low shot that went wide of the right post.

SECOND QUARTER

New Hampshire outshot Bryant 8-1 in the second quarter.
The 'Cat pressured early, but Hes stopped back-to-back shots by Knuttel and Tamera Cookman in the 17^th minute to keep the margin at one goal.
Tamera Cookman gave UNH a 1-0 lead at 18:12 when she blasted a one-time from the middle of the circle into an open cage. Poulakis set up the tally by driving along the right endline, drawing Hes out of position and centering a pass to Cookman.
Tamera Cookman almost struck again at 25:37, but her rising blast to the right of Hes was blocked away by Gouws.

THIRD QUARTER

The shots were 7-0 in favor of UNH in the third quarter.
Knuttel increased the advantage to 2-0 at 43:29 when she was positioned in front of the cage and redirected Tasmin Cookman's centering pass from the left side out of midair for the goal.

FOURTH QUARTER

A quick UNH counterattack gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead at 48:50. Knuttel advanced the ball through midfield into the top of the circle slipping a pass low to the right side for Poulakis. She quickly centered the ball back for Tasmin Cookman, who swept a low shot into the open cage.
Birdthistle stopped Guitink's initial shot but she scored off her own rebound to trim the deficit to 3-1 at 57:17.
Birdthistle stopped a flurry of three shots by Taryn Rauff, Emma Rothkopf and Lauren Rothwell, but then Natalie Brown pulled the ball back out to Griffin, who maeuvered to the right to get a better angle from the middle of the circle and score at 59:21.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

UNH finished with a 25-8 shot advantage that included 13-6 on goal.
The Wildcats also had an 8-1 edge in penalty corners.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Poulakis extended her point streak to five games; she has four goals and five assists for a total of 13 points in that span.
She matched her career high of two assists.
For the season, Poulakis has a team-high seven assists and ranks second in both goals (seven) and points (21).
This is the fifth time this season that Tasmin Cookman factored in multiple goals in a game.
Cookman is atop the UNH leaderboard in both goals (10) and points (22).
The previous time UNH started 4-0 in conference play was in 2013, when the 'Cats finished with a 5-0 conference record.

SERIES NOTEBOOK

UNH has won all six matchups against Bryant.

COACH'S QUOTE, UNH head coach Robin Balducci
I thought we played a great game. Great goals. Outstanding team goals with the combinations by two and three players. And I thought our defense was super tough for three-plus quarters – tackling, stepping up, and intercepting was good. Bryant's a good team and they were pressing hard and they earned those two at the end.