STANDISH, Maine – Under the direction of first-year Head Coach Theresa Arsenault '14, the Saint Joseph's College field hockey team posted a 10-11 overall record and a 7-5 mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play in 2024, earning the #5 seed in the GNAC Tournament.
REGULAR SEASON:
The 2024 campaign got off to a rocky start, as the Monks dropped their first three games by a combined 8-0 margin. The breakthrough came on September 14th with a decisive 8-0 victory over conference foe Elms College, marking the first collegiate coaching win for Arsenault. Junior Kienna Haley (Scarborough, Maine) led the SJC offensive attack with three goals in the win over the Blazers.
Saint Joseph's then endured back-to-back overtime setbacks against the University of Southern Maine (4-3) and Colby-Sawyer College (3-2) before catching fire, rattling off four straight GNAC victories over the University of Saint Joseph (3-2), Regis College (4-0), Anna Maria College (2-0), and Dean College (1-0) to even their record at 5-5 by October 5th.
The Monks split their next four contests, defeating Albertus Magnus College and UMaine–Farmington while falling to New England College and nationally ranked Babson College. Senior Abbie Jacques (Mount Vernon, Maine) netted a career-high four goals in the 8-0 triumph over the Falcons.
One-goal losses to GNAC rivals Johnson & Wales University (2-1) and Lasell University (1-0) were followed by a pair of wins—2-1 over Rivier University and 6-0 over non-conference opponent Gordon College—bringing the team to 9-9 on the year. Juniors Maya Waryas (Bellows Falls, Vt.) and Sadie Tirrell (Naples, Maine) tallied two goals apiece in the 6-0 victory over the Fighting Scots.
POSTSEASON:
After closing the regular season with a 3-0 loss to Simmons University, Saint Joseph's rebounded in the GNAC Tournament quarterfinals, avenging their earlier overtime defeat to Colby-Sawyer with a 2-1 road win over the fourth-seeded Chargers on November 2nd. Freshman Zoey Lailer (Limington, Maine) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 21st minute.
Four days later, the Monks traveled to top-seeded Johnson & Wales for a semifinal showdown. Deadlocked at 1-1 early in the third quarter, Saint Joseph's surrendered the go-ahead goal in the 39th minute, as the Wildcats went on to claim their fourth consecutive GNAC Championship.
NOTEWORTHY INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:
- Haley enjoyed a breakout season with 13 goals and two assists for 28 points. She led the team in goals and total points during her junior campaign.
- Jacques tallied 10 goals and four assists for 24 total points and claimed Second Team All-Conference accolades.
- Waryas also contributed 24 points after scoring 10 goals with four helpers
- Tirrell was another breakout player for the Monks with six goals – including a team-high four game-winners – and three assists for 15 total points
- Senior goalkeeper Kassidy Collins (Gardiner, Maine) closed out her career with her finest season, with five shutouts, a 1.85 goals against average, and a .794 save percentage after making 139 saves and yielding 36 goals in 1,168 minutes. For her efforts, she garnered All-Conference honors (third team) for the first time in her career.
- Freshman defender Sydney Lacombe (Mechanic Falls, Maine) made one defensive save last fall and also claimed Third Team All-Conference accolades.
MILESTONES & RANKINGS:
Collins capped her career ranked second in program history in goalkeeper games played (75) and saves (458), third in minutes (4,105), wins (36), and shutouts (14), seventh in goals against average (2.03), eighth in saves per game (6.11), and ninth in save percentage (.767).
