PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN BERTHIAUME '24

STANDISH, Maine – Senior forward Emma Rutledge (Alfred, Maine) tallied three goals and two assists to help Saint Joseph's College (14-4, 10-2 GNAC) topple University of Saint Joseph (4-12, 3-9 GNAC), 5-0, in what was the 2021 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) finale for both teams at the SJC Athletics Complex on Wednesday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks controlled possession for much of the game but were held off the board until the 40th minute, when Rutledge scored on a penalty corner play with junior Alexa Gutowski (Conway, N.H.) earning credit for the assist. The two forwards switched roles four minutes later when Gutowski netted her second goal of the season on a Rutledge assist.

Rutledge tacked on a pair of unassisted markers in the first nine minutes of the final frame and was credited with an assist when senior Olivia Esposito (North Reading, Mass.) hit pay-dirt on a penalty corner play after regular time expired.

SENIOR MOMENT:

Prior to the start of the contest, the Monks held a brief ceremony to honor the program's 10 seniors: manager Megan Seymour, Anton, Rutledge, Esposito, Molly Barr (Gorham, Maine), Alexis Beardsley (Livermore, Maine), Morgan Dalton (Livermore Falls, Maine), Emma Dubuc (Burlington, Vt.), Meghan Hill (Brookline, N.H.), and Elly Walker (Scarborough, Maine).

This group of seniors has helped Saint Joseph's win a pair of conference titles with two NCAA Tournament berths while posting a 50-10 (.833) overall record, including a 24-2 (.923) mark in GNAC play, since arriving on campus in 2018. Nearly unbeatable in Standish, this impressive class lost just three home games with a .903 (28-3) winning percentage at the SJC Athletics Complex.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's dominated the stat sheet with lopsided leads in shots (28-0), shots on goal (16-0), and penalty corners (18-0).

THE KEEPERS:

SJC senior Isabella Anton (Mont Vernon, N.H.) was untested in the shutout performance while USJ netminder Wendy Bowden turned away 11 shots in the losing bid.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Tonight's meeting was the first-ever between the SJC and USJ field hockey programs.

NEXT!

As the #3 seed in the GNAC Tournament, the Monks will host the #6 seed (TBD) in a quarterfinal contest on Saturday at 11:00 AM.

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