Box Score VILLANOVA, Penn. – For the second year in a row, the Sacred Heart field hockey team opened its season with a dramatic overtime victory over Villanova.
Just over three minutes into double overtime, Christine Mace was on the receiving end of a Danielle Gallagher cross, sending her ensuing shot low into the left side of the net to set off the Pioneer celebration in the 89th minute.
SHU was in the situation in large part thanks to a 16-save night from Mary Altepeter, including one with zeros on the clock in the first overtime period and another just two minutes before Mace's game-winner. The 16 saves, seven of which came in the first half, were one shy of a career high for the senior goalkeeper.
Villanova pressured Sacred Heart from the beginning of the contest, leading to a 28-12 advantage in shots, including a 12-2 edge in the first half. Kristen Mericle took a game-high ten of those 28 shots, while Courtney Devine added seven. Both had four shots on net. Goalkeeper Erika Miller stopped seven of the eight attempts she faced in defeat.
Mace recorded a team-high five shots for SHU, three of which came on net. The only other Pioneer with multiple shots was Rachel Claroni, who took three.
Sacred Heart will look to carry momentum of the overtime victory into Sunday's contest against Vermont, whom the Pioneers defeated 3-1 in 2014. The match will be played at Hofstra and is set to begin at 1:30.
First Half
-The first shot of the contest did not come until the sixth minute, with Altepeter saving the opening shot of the season. Villanova kept the pressure up with another shot in the next minute, produced from a penalty corner, which went wide.
-A penalty corner led to SHU's first shot, as Claroni forced Miller into her first save of the night in the ninth minute. After a scramble inside the circle, Lawson fired a shot that led to another Miller save. That would be the last Pioneer shot of the first half.
-Over the next ten minutes, Altepeter stopped another shot in the 13th, while Sacred Heart had two penalty corners that did not lead to a shot attempt.
-The 21st minute is when Villanova began to put heavy pressure on the SHU, firing nine shots over the next 12 minutes. Five of those efforts were saved by Altepeter, including two within a span of 40 seconds in the 27th minute. The last Wildcat barrage came in the 32nd minute, with Altepeter again making consecutive saves, this time 23 seconds apart.
Second Half
-The Pioneers attempted to swing momentum right out of the half, earning a penalty corner just a minute and 30 seconds in. That would be the first of three penalty corner over the next 50 seconds, one producing a Miller save after a Nichole Dobachesky shot and another leading to a Claroni effort that was blocked.
-The Wildcats' first shot of the half was blocked in the 41st. Just over a minute later their first attempt on net was saved by Altepeter. VU would not put another shot on frame in the 50th minute, with Altepeter standing strong once more.
-Sacred Heart's last shot on net came in the 53rd minute when Claroni was denied after her shot from a penalty corner. NicholeTolli sent the final Pioneer attempt of regulation wide in the 56th.
-Villanova had the final four shots of regulation, three of which were on frame. Altepteter preserved the tie in both the 59th and 64th minutes before saving the final shot of the half with just under two minutes remaining.
Overtime
-Just as they did out of the half, Sacred Heart produced the first serious threat of the extra period with Mace getting denied by Miller just 1:22 in.
-Nova had the nextfour shots, two of which were blocked by Altepeter in the 74th and 77th.
-Rebecca Hauser recorded her first career shot in the 81st minute, which was stopped by Miller.
-VU had a shot blocked with forty seconds remaining, and eventually earned a penalty corner with under 20 seconds left on the clock. The Wildcats ultimately got a shot off with zero seconds showing on the clock, with Altepeter coming up large once again to force the second overtime period.
