WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Senior
Madison Preston (Brookfield, Conn.) had three goals and an assist to lead the visiting Western Connecticut State University Wolves to a 5-3 victory over the University of Hartford Hawks in field hockey action this evening. WestConn improves to 6-7 and snaps a three-game losing skid heading into a Little East Conference (LEC) game on Friday on the road against the Keene State College Owls at 4 p.m. The Hawks drop to 3-8 with their second setback in a row. Freshman
Brooklyn Testa (Danbury, Conn.) and junior
Jaden Kilmer (East Islip, N.Y.) combined for 12 saves for the visitors.
Preston wasted no time, scoring 2:23 into the game with the assist credited to senior midfielder
Kylie Dishaw (Old Lyme, Conn.). The Wolves offense was relentless early, as senior
Cassidy Nordmann (Bethel, Conn.) and Preston both had shots stopped by Hawks goalie Nicole Ciampa in the first seven minutes of the game, but Preston beat Ciampa again with 8:18 left in the first quarter to give WestConn a 2-0 lead. Dishaw and senior midfielder
Alyssa Montalvo (Holbrook, N.Y.) assisted on the goal which came off a penalty corner. Eva Nasse scored for Hartford with 1:06 left before the first break, after Testa had made two late saves in the opening quarter. Hartford came out strong in the second frame, holding the Wolves without a single shot and testing Testa with five shots on target before breaking through on a game-tying tally by Olive Thatcher with one minute remaining before halftime.
WestConn rallied in the second half and scored twice in the first eight minutes of the third quarter. Freshman forward
Erin Frank (Westbury, N.Y.) scored from sophomore midfielder
Ellenoire Schoen (Newtown, Conn.) off another Wolves penalty corner, and Madison repeated the effort with an unassisted goal after yet another penalty corner for the visitors. Testa made two more stops late in the third frame, but Hartford's Kyra Benard pulled the Hawks to within a goal by converting on a feed by Alexina Lentes with 1:58 left before the final break. Kilmer entered the game in the fourth stanza and was immediately challenged by the Hawk offense, as she made a pair of saves in the opening six minutes. Ciampa and Kilmer traded stops over next few minutes before Preston competed her hat trick off Schoen's second assist in the final minute of play.
