Field Hockey seniors come up big on Senior Day

For the University of New Hampshire field hockey team, Senior Day was aptly named, as all four seniors played very large roles in a 6-0 win over the Fairfield Stags on a rainy October Saturday.

Both Meg Shea and Leah Boody had two goals and an assist, while Cally Cooke and Kiera Williams provided solid defense for the Wildcats.

UNH improved to 10-6 on the season and 2-2 in America East, while Fairfield fell to 4-12 overall.  

The Wildcats were dominant throughout the game, keeping the ball on Fairfield's side of the field for the majority of the time.

UNH outshot Fairfield 24-4 and held the Stags to only one shot in the first half, while the Wildcats had 15 penalty corners to Fairfield's 6.

In the first half, sophomore Whitney Frates and freshman Melyssa Woods both had unassisted goals, combined with a late goal by Shea at 29:03.

The seniors then took over all the scoring in the seconds half, with Shea scoring her second goal and Boody scoring two, one with the assist from Shea.

Coach Robin Balducci was very proud of her team's play, and pointed out that this game had more meaning than just the final home game of the regular season.

"We've been doing well out of conference, but we've got to take care of games in the conference too," Balducci said.

"This was a step we needed to take. Shea's been having a great year and Boody stepped up and had a great game."

Balducci also noted the strategies that worked well for UNH.

"We had to play our game, which is a possession game," Balducci said. "We changed the point of attack.

Shea had thoughts on her career at UNH, but not much to physically say. 

"It's hard to say," said Shea.  "It's indescribable.  It's been amazing and I can't sum it up in words."

Boody had similar thoughts.

"We played very well, and with passion," said Boody.  "It was a big day game that got us into the tournament.  It was all or nothing today.   It was great."

The Wildcats return to action on Oct. 31, at the University at Albany.