SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Three different players scored goals and four players recorded a point as the Union College field hockey team posted a 3-1 victory over Vermont State University Castleton in the 2024 season-opener on Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
Senior Shaelyn Kelley, sophomore Maddie Greco and first-year Bobbi Serino all scored on the day for Union (1-0), while Sophie Brady made six saves at the other end of the field to pick up the victory.
 
Union got on the board first in the 20th minute on Serino's first collegiate tally. Off a penalty corner, junior Megan Dorsey received a pass in the middle of the arc and put a shot on goal that was saved by defender Jess Smithson, but Serino was there to collect the rebound and find the net in her collegiate debut.
 
Castleton (0-1) evened the score with less than four minutes remaining in the second stanza off a penalty corner, with Peyton Richardson and Arianna Spiezio executing a give-and-go that resulted in Richardson's first collegiate tally.
 
Union was outshot by an 8-6 margin after halftime, but scored the only two goals of the final 30 minutes to pick up the win. Greco notched the game-winning tally 6:21 into the third period, taking a long pass from first-year Rowan Dapson at the near post before turning and scoring. Kelley added an insurance tally with 3:03 gone by in the fourth, picking up a loose ball in front of the net and beating goalie Zoe Martin.
 
After facing only one shot in the first half, Brady turned aside all six on-target attempts she faced in the second half to seal the victory. Union finished the game with an 11-9 edge in shots and took nine penalty corners to Castleton's seven.
 
Union will return to action on Wednesday when the team battles NFHCA preseason #8 Williams College beginning at 6 p.m. at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.