Seahawks fall to Saint Joseph's College

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – The Salve Regina field hockey team falls to visiting Saint Joseph's College of Maine, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at Gaudet Field.

After a tough defensive battle to open the first period, freshman Elizabeth O'Neal (Topsham, Maine) broke open the scoring with her first goal of the season to give the Monks a 1-0 lead with less than 15 minutes to play in the opening half.

After three quick shots in front of the cage, Saint Joseph's drew a foul in front and Senior Rachelle Messuri (Atkinson, N.H.) converted a penalty shot to take a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Sophomore Mary Cain (Montpelier, Vt.) set up classmate Abigail Tepper (Foxboro, Mass.)  in front of the cage with a quick pass to her left as Tepper shot it past the Monks' keeper to cut the Saint Joseph's lead in half, 2-1, 15 minutes into the second half.

Salve Regina was not able to get the tying shot off in the second half as both defenses held strong as Saint Joseph's remained undefeated on the season, 4-0. With the loss, Salve Regina slips to 1-4 on the year.

Freshman goalie Emma Astbury (Bridgewater, Vt.) needed just one save in the win for SJCM while junior keeper Murphy McCann (Westerly, R.I.) had six stops in the loss.

Salve Regina returns to action when the Seahawks travel to Springfield, Mass. to open Commonwealth Coast Conference action against Western New England on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. while the Monks take on Simmons on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 12 p.m.