Poulakis and Calcari Score in Season-Opening 4-2 Loss to #13 Saint Joseph's

Saturday, August 31

Storrs, Conn.

3 PM

University of New Hampshire

Saint Joseph's

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Poulakis and Calcari Score in Season-Opening 4-2 Loss to #13 Saint Joseph's

8/31/2024 5:28:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. – Junior captain Nicole Poulakis (Ajax, Ontario) and classmate Brecken Calcari (St. Louis, Mo.) both scored a goal, but the University of New Hampshire field hockey team was defeated 4-2 by 13^th-ranked Saint Joseph's University in Saturday's season opener at UConn's George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex.

Freshman goalkeeper Kerigan Ross (Baltimore, Md.) made six saves in her collegiate debut and senior captain Ella Pratt (Denver, Colo.) was credited with her first career defensive save.

Lily Santi led the Hawks with a goal and an assist while Shannon McNally stopped four shots.

SJU is now 1-1.

UP NEXT

New Hampshire concludes the weekend Sunday (3 p.m.) at UConn.
UNH's home opener is Sept. 8 (12 p.m.) against Lafayette.

FIRST QUARTER

Saint Joseph's recorded all four shots and both penalty corners in the opening 15 minutes.
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead at 6:25. On a penalty corner, Ross stopped the initial shot by Julia Duffhuis but Alison Buffington scored off the rebound.
Pratt kept the 'Cats within a goal when her defensive save denied Santi at 9:11.

SECOND QUARTER

Both teams scored a second-quarter goal with UNH recording the edge in both shots (2-1) and corners (3-1).
The Hawks converted another corner into a 2-0 lead on Duffhuis' goal at 16:39.
UNH generated its first corner at 17:20 and was awarded a second corner on another SJU infraction inside the circle, but the Wildcats did not record a shot in the sequence.
New Hampshire's first goal of the season came on its first shot when Poulakis finished a feed from Tamera Cookman (London, England)) at 20:16 to lift the Wildcats within 2-1.
The 'Cats pressured again in the 27^th minute but this time Poulakis was denied by McNally.

THIRD QUARTER

Both teams also scored a goal in the third quarter, in which Saint Joseph's had a 4-3 shot advantage and the corners were even at one.
The Hawks reestablished a two-goal advantage, 3-1, on Manu Ghigliotti's goal at 31:25.
McNally preserved that two-goal cushion when she turned aside a shot by Tasmin Cookman (London, England) in the 34^th minute.
With Saint Joseph's serving a green card, Calcari once again trimmed the deficit to one, 3-2, with an unassisted goal at 40:52
Ross recorded a pair of saves in the 42^nd minute to keep the margin at one goal.
The Wildcats generated another corner in the 44^th minute and it produced a shot wide off the stick of Addison MacNeil (Brentwood, N.H.).

FOURTH QUARTER

The designated home team scored the only goal of the final frame with a 6-2 edge in corners, but UNH outshot them 3-2.
The Hawks opened the fourth quarter with a series of four consecutive corners but did not generate a shot.
Poulakis' shot in the 48^th minute was stopped by McNally but resulted in a corner that yielded another shot by MacNeil that was also turned aside by McNally.
Sol Borensztein's goal gave Saint Joseph's a 4-2 lead at 57:12.

UNH NOTEBOOK

It was the second career goal for the junior, Calcari, who scored her first collegiate goal in October 2022.
Poulakis was named to the NFHCA Division I Watchlist and America East Preseason All-Conference prior to the start of the season.
She ranked second on the team last year in both goals and points.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Saint Joseph's finished with an 11-6 shot advantage that included 11-6 on goal.
The Hawks also had a 10-6 edge in corners.

SERIES NOTEBOOK

UNH has a 1-1 record against Saint Joseph's.
The first meeting between these programs was back in 1997.

COACH'S QUIP (UNH head coach Robin Balducci)
"Brecken scoring a goal was good for us. We had a couple of new additions getting into the mix early and they played well. Our steady attack was good with our front three. We started slow but the second quarter was good and we built from that. They scored but we kept answering."