Field Hockey will live to play another day. Pace defeated Southern New Hampshire University Penman yesterday in the 2o23 NE-10 Championships.
Setters entered the conference playoffs as the 4th seed. They defeated Southern Connecticut State University on October 24 but lost in penalty strokes to Bentley University on October 27. Their defeat made Pace and Bentley swap positions in the standings. While the team remained home, it meant SNHU was coming to town instead of Adelphi.
Shots were at a premium for the entirety of the first half. SNHU got a penalty corner 2 and a half minutes into the first quarter, but the shot sailed wide. Krista Dietz had two shots, her first was blocked and Penman goalie Emma Peeters saved the second. 90 seconds to the end of the first, Pace goalie Celeste Pagliaroli made a save to keep the game all zeroes. Peeters would be the busier keeper in the second. She made 3 saves within a minute from 16:47 to 17:49. Three penalty corners were awarded to Pace, but none were converted. Pagliaroli got a save at the 27-minute mark off SNHU’s Zoe Demers. Both keepers’ shutouts were intact; 0-0 at halftime.
Just under 5 minutes into the third Pace got another penalty corner. A good shot by Anne Kopec was saved by Peeters. A second was handed out, this time Dietz took the shot, and once again Emma Peeters got in front of it. Eliza Bates took one for Southern New Hampshire but it too was saved as Pagliaroli made the stop. Less than a minute before the end of the quarter at 44:27 Krista Dietz finally got a goal. The tie was finally broken with just over 30 seconds before the buzzer sounded again.
The Setters just had to hold on to the lead. Period 4 opened with two penalty corners for Pace, neither saw the back of the cage. A hard push by Southern New Hampshire came in the 54th and 55th minutes. The ball was in their possession on offense most of that time. Two shots were fired, both saved by Pagliaroli. Peeters was pulled to give SNHU an extra attacker on offense, but no more shots could be registered.
For the second straight year The Setters advance to the semifinals. Their opponent is now Assumption University in the NE-10 Championship Semifinals. The squads will tee off on November 3rd on The Greyhounds’ home field in Worcester, Massachusetts. Game time is to be announced. Watch live on ne10now.tv
