Seaford, N.Y. - The field hockey team opened the 2022 season with a 3-2 victory over Southern Connecticut State University in a non-conference bout. With the game tied with as little as three minutes remaining on the clock, sophomore
Devin Harkins snuck a ball in off the post to give Molloy its first victory since 2019. This was also the first contest since 2019 that the Lions netted three or more goals. Molloy improved to 1-0 on the season in the victory while SCSU fell to 0-3.
How it Happened
- The Lions carried the ball into the offensive zone with some tic-tac-toe passing. From about 10 yards out, Harkins notched her first collegiate goal, shooting from straight away and beating the Owls' goalie Kaitlyn Parent on the right side to give Molloy the lead just six minutes into the contest.
- SCSU attempted four shots in the second period, but all were stopped by sophomore Gianna Festa to keep the home team in front 1-0 at the half.
- Just 40 seconds into the second half, Molloy doubled its lead as freshman Dayanna Ortiz banked a ball off Parent's pad and into the left side of the net.
- The Owls drew a penalty corner with nine minutes left in the third period. While Festa stopped the first attempt from Tori Geaglone, Brianna Caffrey was able to score on the rebound to cut Molloy's lead in half.
- Trinidad Rodriguez-Ricchiuti drew Festa out of the net and shot the ball over her and into the goal to tie the game with eight minutes remaining.
- The Lions weathered an Owls' penalty corner with six minutes to play before drawing one of their own with just over four minutes on the clock.
- Sophomore Kassandra Sakhat had the shot off the corner blocked, but Harkins was there to knock in the game winner and secure the victory for Molloy.
Top Performances
- Harkins scored two goals on three shots in her Molloy debut.
- Freshman Alessandra Vidal tallied an assist on Harkins' first goal.
- Ortiz had one goal on two shots while graduate student Lizzie Weiner also fired two shots.
- In net, Festa made nine saves.
Up Next
Molloy heads on the road on Saturday (Sept. 17) as they take on Millersville University in Millersville, Pa. at 6:00 p.m.
