ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University field hockey team defeated Immaculata University 2-1 in an Atlantic East semifinal match on Saturday afternoon and advances to the Atlantic East Championship next Saturday.
Immaculata started the game with two penalty corners and two shots, with
Caley Gee making an early save for the Knights. Neumann started to put the pressure on in the final five minutes of the first quarter and put five shots towards the net and earned a penalty corner. Both shots on net were saved and the teams remained scoreless after the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Knights capitalized on a penalty corner by
Ayla Mergen.
Cadence Conti shot the ball from the top of the circle, and
Meghan Sheldrick tipped the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 Neumann lead in the 17
th minute. The Mighty Macs answered with a goal in the 21
st minute and the teams went into halftime knotted at one.
Midway through the third quarter,
Natalie Hackett crossed the ball from the corner and Sheldrick tipped the ball in for her second goal of the game and a 2-1 Knights lead. Neumann kept the pressure on and had two penalty corners and tallied two more shots before the buzzer.
Not much action happened in the fourth quarter as the Knights tallied a penalty corner and shot. Neumann held Immaculata to no shots in the second half and came away with the 2-1 win to send it to the championship.
The Knights outshot the Mighty Macs 12-3 overall and 5-2 on net. Gee made the one save needed
Neumann (11-6) heads to Marywood for the Atlantic East Championship next Saturday.
Notes:
The 11 wins ties the most ever for the field hockey program. The Knights had two other 11-win seasons in 2008 and 2014.
This will mark Neumann's first time playing for the conference championship since 2009 and the third time in the program's history. The Knights won the conference championship (CSAC) in 2008.
The win over Immaculata for Neumann is the first at home since the 2014 season.
Caley Gee's 11
th win of the season set the program record for wins in a season.