Rowan University field hockey emerged victorious against Elizabethtown College 7-1 on Senior Night this Wednesday, Oct. 27.
Several senior Profs were honored before the game, including forward Kristiina Castagnola who scored 100 points in her career. She picked up another assist and ended up at 101 points by the end of the game.
Picking up these honors on her senior night was special for Castagnola.
“I guess I couldn’t name a perfect moment to get it, you know, more than this,” Castagnola said. “It’s honestly really awesome. It’s awesome that I get to do it with this team and this program. I’m just really thankful.”
Senior back Dayna DeVincentz and midfielder Molly Gorczyca also saw action in the game, with a goal and assist, respectively. Head Coach Michelle Andre is proud to see her seniors do well on the night meant to honor them.
“They’re just so much fun,” Coach Andre said. “I feel like we’ve been through a lot together and watching them grow… I keep telling them, ‘We’re not done yet, we still got, hopefully, another four weeks’, but I’m just so proud of them… They’ve done such a wonderful job with the program.”
The Profs applied a lot of pressure on the Blue Jays’ net at the start of the game. Forward Bridget Guinan, a junior, finally got a goal past Elizabethtown’s goalie and to start the scoring in the first quarter with a hard shot at the top of the circle sent in by Krystyna Hovell on a penalty corner.
Forward Julia Patrone, a freshman, took over and scored two goals of her own, the first off of a smooth backhand shot and the second from a pass by back Kylie Taylor, a freshman. The Profs went into the second half up 3-0.
Elizabethtown was unable to get a single shot on goal in the first half, shining a light on the solid defense Rowan has to their game.
“Ever since our loss to Haverford I haven’t forgotten really instilling defense,” Castagnola said. “It wins games, truly.”
Elizabethtown’s only goal came from their only shot of the night in the third quarter. Rowan was able to quickly gain their momentum back when Patrone scored again to pick up a hat trick, her third of the season.
“I feel like I’ve been trying to work on taking less touches into circles,” Patrone said. “I finally did that and I’m scoring from that so that’s good.”
Castagnola and DeVincentz scored their aforementioned goals in the final quarter of the game to put Rowan up 6-1. The Profs closed out scoring for the night with a final goal from forward Alyssa Magliaro, a sophomore, within the last five minutes of the game.
This was Rowan’s 11th win in a row. They are now looking ahead to the final game of the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 30, when they’ll face William Paterson University.
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