Field Hockey earns first-ever GNAC win at Mount Ida

(Newton, Mass.) The Rivier Unviersity Field Hockey team played their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) road game this afternoon and came away victorius as they scored six times in a 6-1 win at Mount Ida College.

The Raiders (1-5, 1-1 GNAC) earned their first win since October 3rd of last season, and their first conference victory since 2011, while Mount Ida (2-4, 0-2 GNAC) missed an opportunity to get their record to .500 in their inaugural season.

Rivier sophomore Chelsea Gomes (Epsom, N.H.) scored a hat-trick and Chelsie Hubicsak-Muldowney added a pair of goals in the victory.

Mustang freshman Hayley Napier (Fairhaven, Mass.) continued her hot streak, scoring her team-leading fifth goal of the season just before half-time, after the visitors had taken a 3-0 lead.

Shots were nearly even (14-13 in favor of Rivier),and were even at eight apiece in the second half, and Rivier had a 19-15 advantage in penalty corners, taking advantage right away when Muldowney scored off one such chance just under six minutes into the game.

Nicole Hauer (No. Attleboro, Mass.) tallied her third goal of the year twenty-one minutes later, and Gomes got her first tally with 31 minutes played. Sophomore Meredith Garcia (Newton, N.H.) assisted on the second and third goals by the Raiders.

Napier pulled Mount Ida back to a two-goal deficit with under a minute before the break when she finished in front of the net on a feed from Ashley Tice (South Berwick, Maine).

However, the Raiders used three unassisted goals to put the game away in the second half. Gomes got the first when she finished a rebound thirteen minutes after halftime, then Muldowney and Gomes netted 46 seconds apart in the 67th and 68th minutes.

Mount Ida senior Brenna Santos (E. Falmouth, Mass.) made three stops in the game, while Makenzie Flagg (Shirley, Mass.) made five stops to earn her first victory.

Freshman Lexi Minicucci (Westfield, Mass.) fired a game-high seven shots for Mount Ida, but only one of them forced a save from Flagg.

The Mustangs have four days to regroup before they host non-conference foe Bay Path on Thursday at 3:30 pm.

This was the first career win for rookie Head Coach Ellen Maruszewski. Rivier will turn around and play Elms at home tomorrow at 1:00 pm.