No. 15 Field Hockey Downs Fairfield 6-1 in Final America East Regular Season Home Contest
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SEASON STATS
ALBANY, N.Y.- University at Albany field hockey (14-3, 3-1 AE) took control of second place in the America East standings on Saturday afternoon, beating Fairfield (10-5, 2-2 AE) 6-1 at Alumni Field.
“We put forward a big effort today,” said head coach Phil Sykes. “Fairfield is a good team. They've been better the last few years, and there was a lot riding on that game. We tried to keep our team calm and focus on the task at hand, and they really executed the game plan well.”
Celia D'Agostino kicked off scoring for the Great Danes, finding the back of the cage on a combination play from Echo Bretz and Kelly Bonner. The sophomore recorded her first career goal to give UAlbany a 1-0 lead.
Bonner notched the next two goals for the Purple & Gold. The forward converted on a pass from Paula Heuser to make the score 2-0 in the 32nd minute, and scored to open the second half on a rebound.
Heuser got in on the scoring action in the 53rd minute. The freshman midfielder weaved through the midfield and down the right side of the circle, firing a shot into the lower left corner of the cage. With 13 goals, Heuser needs two more tallies to become UAlbany's top all-time single-season rookie scorer.
Fellow freshman Molly Mariano knocked in a pass from Amy Nicklin in the 60th minute for her fourth goal of the season.
Sophomore penalty corner specialist Fiori Van Rijswijk tipped in a pass from Daphne Voormolen to give the Great Danes a 6-0 lead in the 61st minute.
Fairfield's Felicitas Heinen tracked down the rebound of her own shot to score for the Stags.
Maxi Primus made two saves in the cage for the Great Danes.
With the win, UAlbany takes sole control of second place in the America East standings going into a game at UMass Lowell next weekend. New Hampshire sits atop the league, and downed the River Hawks 5-0 in Durham on Friday night. The Wildcats face Fairfield to wrap up their America East slate on Friday Nov. 1.
