NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College is headed to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament on a high note after beating University of Saint Joseph 20-11 on Saturday afternoon after a ceremony in which they honored their three graduating seniors.
Amanda Bowen (Randolph, Vt.), Nicole Batakis (E. Longmeadow, Mass.) and Brenna Santos (E. Falmouth, Mass.) all recorded points in their final Mount Ida home game, and Bowen became the first ever Mustang to reach the 200-goal plateau with a nine-goal performance.
Bowen has now recorded 23 goals in the last three games, all victories for the Mustangs (5-10, 4-5 GNAC). She broke another program record with 19 shots, the most by a single player in a game, and helped the Mustangs come one goal shy of the team mark for most goals in a game.
Batakis added two goals and two assists and Santos had an assist, two caused turnovers, and a ground ball in the victory, which saw an 8-0 run midway through the first half help the Mustangs seize control of the game that was tied at 4 at the time.
The Blue Jays got five points (four goals and one assist) from their leading scorer, senior Dayna Gambino (Newington, Conn.), who closes her final season with 46 goals. Rachel Foster (Newington, Conn.) closed out her senior season with three goals and two assists, racking up 20 helpers for the year.
Rebecca Beaulieu (Weare, N.H.) scored four times for the Mustangs, and she put them ahead just 15 secnds into the game, though two goals by Danielle Bazzano (South Windsor, Conn.) gave Saint Joseph their only lead of the game.
Bowen and Samantha Basler (Plymouth, Mass.), who had three goals, two assists and a game-high nine draw controls for Mount Ida, put the home team back in front. Gambino tied the game at four apiece before Beaulieu scored twice around a Bowen goal and Beaulieu, Basler and Batakis each scored in succession during the 8-0 spurt.
Bowen scored seven of her goals in the first half, and Mount Ida took a 14-6 lead into the break. The 199th and 200th goals of her career came in the same minute in the second half, with the 200th goal coming on a pass from Basler with 12:34 to play, and giving the Mustangs an 18-8 lead.
Mustang junior Briana Barker (Westerly, R.I.) got on the board with two goals in the second half, as did Saint Joseph freshman Amanda van Buren (Burlington, Conn.).
Both goalies were busy, with Mount Ida outshooting their opponents 45-32. Mount Ida freshman Sydney Fredette (Hudson, Mass.) made 14 stops to earn the victory while Emily Bourassa (Bristol, Conn.) made 18 stops in defeat.
Mount Ida will await their seeding for next week's GNAC tournament, with the bracket and matchups expected to be released later this weekend.
The Blue Jays end their season with a record of 4-8 and a 1-8 mark in the GNAC.