NEWTON, Mass. – Sarah Hemstock (Northford, Conn.) scored her team-high fourth gaol to tie the game at two in Mount Ida College's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) field hockey season opener on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field, but the visiting Johnson & Wales Wildcats struck back just over a minute later and hung on to hand the Mustangs a 3-2 defeat.
Casey Chadkowski (Somerset, Mass.) slotted home her second goal of the year far post on a breakaway at the 41:20 mark, beating freshman goalie Grace Ryan (Livermore Falls, Maine), who was spectacular, making ten saves for the Mustangs.
The hosts got on the board first, scoring just 1:35 into the game when Eleanor Garvey (Westminster, Md.) slammed home her third goal of the year right at the mouth of the goal, beating Johnson & Wales keeper Claire Nolan (West Bridgewater, Mass.), who made two saves and allowed two goals.
Before the half, however, JWU had returned the favor twice, with goals by Adriana Scala (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) and Kaylyn Forest (Amherst, N.H.). Both of them were assisted by Giovanna Ciavardoni (Latham, N.Y.), and the Wildcats took a 2-1 lead into the break, having outshot the Mustangs 19-3 in the first half.
They would go on to hold a 32-9 shot advantage and a 22-4 edge in penalty corners, but the Mustangs tied the game when Hemstock put back a rebound on a defensive save by freshman Renelle Bush (Haymarket, Va.).
The Mustangs continued to press for the tying goal after Chadkowski re-gave JWU a lead, and Mount Ida had all four of their penalty corners in the second half, but ran out of time to find an equalizer.
Mount Ida (2-3, 0-1 GNAC) returns to non-conference play with another home game on Wednesday, when they will welcome Daniel Webster to Alumni Field for a 3:30 pm start.
The Wildcats (2-2, 1-0 GNAC) also play out of conference next, with a home game against Westfield State looming on Tuesday under the lights at 7:00 pm.