DURHAM, N.H. – The ninth-ranked Saint Joseph's field hockey team opened its season with a dramatic win, topping 11^th-ranked UConn, 2-1, in a shootout at Memorial Field on the campus of the University of New Hampshire on Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• After neither team broke through in the first quarter, Saint Joseph's (1-0) took the lead early in the second, as Brooke James scored her first goal in a Hawk uniform.
 
• UConn (1-1) equalized late in the third as Sol Simone set up Pien Prins for the third time in two days to make it a 1-1 game with 2:14 to play in the quarter.
 
• That's where it stayed through the fourth, with both teams having chances but unable to find the go-ahead goal.  The Huskies had a penalty corner in the closing seconds of regulation, but the Hawks turned the attempt away to send the game to overtime.
 
• In the extra stanzas, both teams had two corner opportunities, but neither converted.  The Hawks forced UConn's Natalie McKenna into three stops, including two with around five minutes to play, while Paige Kieft made two saves for SJU, one of them coming with just 14 seconds to play.
 
• Erika Culp kicked off the shootout with a goal, but after three shooters, the Huskies had a 3-2 lead.  Alison Buffington converted for the Hawks before Simone missed, leveling the score.  Ava Smith and Juana Garcia converted for SJU and UConn, respectively, to send the shootout into sudden-victory rounds.
 
• In the first extra round, Kieft stopped UConn's Julia Bressler before Culp beat McKenna for the winner, ending the shootout 5-4 in favor of the Crimson and Gray.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Kieft finished the game with seven saves in her Hawk debut, while McKenna tallied nine.
 
• UConn finished the game with a 15-14 shot advantage, but the Hawks put 10 shots on target to eight for the Huskies.  SJU also held a 12-9 edge in penalty corners.
 
• This is the third consecutive season that the Hawks have opened against the Huskies; SJU claimed a 2-0 win at Ellen Ryan Field in 2023 before UConn won a wild 5-4 overtime affair in Storrs, Connecticut, a season ago.

HAWK TALK
"The game was a bit of a roller coaster and we did an excellent job staying with our game plan, making adjustments when needed, and controlling the tempo," head coach Hannah Prince said.  "The grit and determination from the Hawks today showed me how locked in this group is, how ready they are to take on this season, one brick at a time, one game at a time.  Paige Keift was a steady, solid presence in the cage today, stepping up when it mattered most.  Each member of the team had a purpose and I look forward to seeing them continue to develop as individuals and as a collective group."
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will meet New Hampshire on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.