Field hockey led by three freshmen goals to shut out Drexel
Coming off a close loss to the sixth-ranked team in the country, the University of Maryland, the Saint Joseph’s University field hockey team (3-1) picked up two victories this weekend. Freshman Quinn Maguire scored her first two goals in a 2-1 victory against Villanova University on Sept. 1.
The Hawks then hosted Drexel University in their home opener on Sept. 3. The scoring opened late in the first half, amidst some chaos in front of Drexel’s cage, when freshman Jordan Olenginski was able to flip a shot past the Dragons’ goalkeeper.
St. Joe’s held their 1-0 lead thanks to a collection of impressive saves from sophomore goalkeeper Victoria Kammerinke and the defense.
“It was actually off of a corner,” Kammerinke said of one particular team save. “It was a sweep in, deflected, which I got, but unfortunately it got back to the attacker and then it was deflected high to the goal, which [junior] Monica [Tice] saved on the line, so it was a team effort.”
After utilizing a platoon strategy in the cage last season, the Hawks have placed Kammerinke in goal every minute of the Hawks’ season so far.
“We got in a new goalkeeper, Isabelle [Boles],” Kammerinke explained. “She played field hockey as a goalie in high school and just committed like two weeks before school started. I think we’re just getting her there because it’s a long process. It’s good like last year, especially; we [the goalkeepers] were pushing each other in practice.”
The defense also deserves credit in what was the first shutout of the season for St. Joe’s, supplying an extra two saves to Kammerinke’s three.
Eventually, the Hawks were able to add some insurance late in the second half. With less than seven minutes to play, Maguire scored her third goal in two games.
“My teammate, [junior] Anna Willocks, I think she got it at the 50 and she brought it up to the 25, ended up in the circle and pulled the goalie out of the cage,” Maguire said. “She acted like she was going to shoot and I was just outside the far post and she ended up just laying it off to me and it was an easy goal in there.”
Less than two minutes later, freshman Emily Henry blasted a shot from the right side of the field into the left side of the net to expand the St. Joe’s lead to three. Each of these three goals came from freshmen.
“I think from the returners, it’s a huge time to say we welcome our incoming freshmen,” Head Coach Lynn Farquhar said. “They’ve made a huge impact right away and I think it’s on the field and off the field. On the field, they’re giving energy and they worked really hard over the summer.”
The Hawks will travel to play James Madison University, the 19th-ranked team nationally, on Sept. 8 before returning home to host Rutgers University.
