Sept. 12, 2008

Final Stats

Fairfield, CT - Senior Carisa Eye (Nesconset, NY) netted two goals as the Sacred Heart offense exploded for three goals in a 3:08 window in the second half and senior Whitney Mills (Harrisburg, PA) made 10 saves to help the Pioneers post a 4-1 victory over Fairfield in field hockey action Friday at Campus Field. SHU got its first win of the season in a game played in a driving rain storm.

Both teams started slow on the wet turf. The Stags jumped on top first when Marit Westenberg tipped a rebound shot home at the 26:28 mark of the first half. Jill Piacquiado fired the initial shot and Westenberg was in front to put home the rebound for her third goal of the season.

Eye tied the game with 3:17 left in the first half. Senior Amy Hendricks (Milford, PA) carried the ball into the scoring arc and sent a pass through to Eye who redirected the ball past Stags goaltender Jennifer Utz to even the score.

As the rain got heavier early in the second half, so did the pressure put on by the Pioneer offense. SHU's scoring outburst began just over 10 minutes into the half as junior Kelsey Zeyher (Poughkeepsie, NY) scored what turned out to be the game winning goal. Freshman Chelsea Carlson (Peterborough, NH) brought the ball down the field and sent a shot towards the net that Zeyher got a stick on to put it in the net.

Just 1:36 after she helped give the Pioneers the lead, Carlson finished a breakaway attempt, scoring her first collegiate goal to make it a two goal margin. Eye netted her second goal of the game 1:32 later to cap the scoring.

Fairfield dominated play early in the game and finished the day with a 21-12 advantage in shots. However, Mills continued her strong play in net, stopping all but one of the 11 shots that the Stags got on goal.

The Pioneers are back in action Friday September 19th when they visit Hofstra. Game time is set for 4:00 pm.