Box Score
DARTMOUTH, Mass. – There are good losses and bad losses. Wednesday's 3-1 field hockey loss to Salve Regina University could be termed a 'good' loss when the Warriors battled the undefeated Seahawks on even terms until late in the match.
Saturday's 2-1 Little East Conference loss at Cressy Field against a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (4-9, 1-2 LEC) team which had won only once in over a month, was a 'bad' one and came in Eastern's (4-4, 0-1 LEC) conference opener. The Warriors dominated with a 20-7 advantage in shots and recorded ten of the 12 penalty corners taken in the game (including 6-0 in the fourth quarter).
It marked Eastern's second setback to the Corsairs by a 2-1 score (last year's contest extending nearly nine minutes into overtime) after the Warriors had captured five of the previous six in the series. In those six matches, Eastern outscored UMD 19-5, with the loss coming by a 1-0 score in 2019 at Cressy Field.
All of the goals came in the first 14 minutes, after which senior goalies
Kiana Webster (Raymond, ME) of Eastern and Hannah Trombly of UMD shut the door. Trombly was stellar in the fourth quarter, making five of her nine saves as the Warriors came up empty despite outshooting the Corsairs, 6-0, over those final 15 minutes.
After giving Eastern a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute against Salve, first-year player
Rebecca Minaya (Stafford) struck early again, making it 1-0 just 92 seconds into play Saturday with her third goal of the year. The lead lasted only three minutes, however, when freshman Kenzie Bliven tied it, and the game remained tied for only 11 minutes before senior Jenna Carvalho gave the hosts what proved to be the win when she scored with the help of freshman Ava Lozeau's third assist of the year. It was the sixth goals of the year for Carvalho and Bliven, tying them for the club lead with sophomore Sophia Bouffard, who was held without a recorded shot.
It was the second win in eight decisions for Trombly, who had turned away nine shots in her team's victory a year ago over Eastern, which had dominated that match as well with a 23-4 advantage in shots and 19-1 in penalty corners. In that game, current sophomore
Betsy Davis (Enfield) had forced overtime with six minutes left with her third goal of the season before Sam King, also a freshman last year, notched her second goal of the match in overtime.
In her eighth straight start this year, Webster made four saves.
Eastern visits Connecticut College Tuesday at 4 p.m. in a non-conference match at Silfen Field before returning home Saturday to host the University of Southern Maine in an LEC contest at 1 p.m. on Alumni Day and Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Southern Maine (3-8, 0-1 LEC) dropped a 5-2 decision Saturday at Keene State College, the Huskies' fourth straight loss.
