A resounding win for Pace Field Hockey yesterday afternoon marked not only their 10th of the year but the 100th for Coach Kayte Biordi. A definitive 7-2 victory over the University of New Haven at home put the team to 7-3 in NE-10 Conference play.
Pace performed equally as dominant in Rindge, New Hampshire, shutting out the host Franklin Pierce University Ravens 4-0.
Almost instantly, the Setters were on the board. Junior forward Krista Dietz scored just 21 seconds into the game. That would not be her last time on the score sheet. Three shots from junior defender Noëlle Mejj would not go, two saved by New Haven’s goalkeeper Hallie Reiger, and the last blocked out of bounds. Senior defender Francesca Fava then scored off a pass from freshman Anne Kopac. She got it in at 9:29 for a fast two-goal advantage. Just three minutes later at 12:38, Dietz again put one past the goalkeeper. Mejj finally got her goal, courtesy of a Dietz pass. By the first quarter, the score was already 4-0. More notably, Dietz had 3 points, a blazing start.
New Haven got on the board early in quarter 2 when Kat Trammel scored, cutting the lead to 3. That is as close as the Chargers would get. Heading toward halftime, Dietz once again had the upper hand on Reiger. Two more went in off her stick just two minutes apart at 25:19 and 27:13. Pace led 6-1 into the break, and Krista Dietz had a hand in 5 of them.
The third quarter was much further into defense. Multiple shots wound up wide of the cage courtesy of defenders. New Haven struck back at 37:07 with a goal from Johanna Lee. That would be all the offense in the third and most of the fourth. Freshman Celeste Pagliaroli saved the final two good looks New Haven got in the period keeping the Pace lead steady. She would stay busy in the ultimate quarter forced to make a couple of starts in the first 5 minutes of the quarter. She was subbed out just before the game ended with two goals allowed and seven saves.
This game would not end without yet another Krista Dietz goal. The score coming just before the final minute brought her up to 11 points for the game, now the most in one contest in Pace Field Hockey history.
As a team, Pace outshot New Haven 27-22. New Haven had the advantage in penalty corners taking 14 to Pace’s 8. Pace’s win extended their win streak to five. This current stretch is the third-longest winning streak in program history. It stands behind last year’s seven consecutive wins up to the NE-10 championship game and the 2018 streak where they won 14 straight en route to the NCAA National Semifinal game. Next up is American International College this Saturday, October 21st for Homecoming Weekend. Watch live at Peter X. Finnerty Field or online at https://ne10now.tv/paceuathletics/