SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College field hockey team put together another dominating performance to end the regular season in style, outshooting Westfield State University by a 40-2 margin on the way to a 5-0 victory on a beautiful Thursday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
Senior
Reese Fendelet led the way for Union (11-6) with two goals, her first multi-goal outing fo the season and fourth of her career. Junior
Rowan Dapson and first-year
Caroline Ranucci both had a goal and an assist, while sophomore
Macy Goodwin scored as well for the home team. The win moves the Garnet Chargers to the 11-win plateau for a program-record fifth straight season and gives the team as many 11-win campaigns over the last five years as in the first 42 years of the program combined.
Coming off of Tuesday's 34-shot barrage against Kean University, Union followed up by firing 40 shots toward the net of Westfield State (13-4) while conceding just a single shot in each of the last two quarters.
It took the home team less than 30 seconds to get on the board on Thursday, earning a penalty corner 20 seconds into the game. Senior
Maddie Greco inserted to Dapson at the top of the arc, and the junior fired home her fifth goal of the year. With her 19th career assist, Greco moved into a tie for second place on the school career list, behind only former teammate
Megan Dorsey '26.
Union followed up with two more goals over the next eight minutes to increase its lead to three. The second tally also came off a corner, as Greco inserted again to Dapson, who stickhandled to the right before dropping the ball back to a wide-open Goodwin in the middle of the arc for a put away. Fendelet made it a three-goal lead just 8:04 into the contest by putting home a loose ball at the side of the net for her fourth of the year.
After outshooting Westfield State 10-0 in the first frame, the Garnet Chargers took 11 unanswered shots in the second stanza as well. Ranucci scored the team's lone goal of the period off another penalty corner, collecting a feed from junior
Maggie Monaghan and taking a shot that deflected off an Owl stick and looped over everyone and into the net.
Following a scoreless third frame, Union again struck on a penalty corner 4:04 into the fourth, as ashort insert to Ranucci resulted in a shot that was deftly tipped home by Fendelet in front of the net for the score. With her ninth assist of the season, Ranucci moved into third place on the school single-season list and also set a new school standard for assists by a first-year.
Junior
Tess Parker and senior
Marion Stuntz split time in goal for Union on the afternoon, with Stuntz making two saves in the second half to preserve the shutout. Olivia Labrie made 11 saves and allowed four goals in the first half for Westfield State, while Keira Surprenant made eight saves on nine shots in the second half. In addition to the massive shot disparity, Union also held a 25-1 edge in penalty corners as well on the day.
Union will sit back and relax this weekend while two Liberty League games decide where and when the Garnet Chargers will begin Liberty League Tournament play next week. Check back on UnionAthletics.com for more postseason information as it becomes available.
