By Justin Loring, Sports Editor
Captain Maegan Grew will try to help lead the Wildcats this weekend when they take on Providence and Hofstra.
After a disappointing weekend in which the UNH field hockey team fell to a record of 1-5, the Wildcats set their sights on rebound on the road against Providence and then taking on Hofstra at home on Sunday. The 1-5 start is the worst since 2006 for the Wildcats.
On Sunday, UNH travelled to Boston and fell 3-2 at the hands of theNortheastern Huskies. UNH lead 1-0 at the half after a goal by Lindsey Nerbonne, but couldn’t hold on to the lead. The Huskies’ Kate Carlson scored the game-winner with just 2:18 left on the clock.
Nerbonne, a sophomore transfer from Syracuse University, has six points on the season (3g, 0a) with junior Meg Flatley (2g, 2a). On Sunday, junior Lynn Lehman scored her first goal of the season and sophomore Jackie Hozza recorded her first career points with a pair of assists.
“[Nerbonne] is very skilled, so that lessens the burden on that midfield-forward line,” UNH head coach Robin Balducci. “She’s still a young player, but she has confidence. Not only from us in the spring, but also from getting a lot of minutes at Syracuse.”
“The core [of our team] has strengths that will allow us to be stable and not be rebuilding. We’ll be building on what we have already,” she added. “The real challenge is finding those others scorers to offset Flatley to make us a little more dangerous in a few more areas other than two players.”
Senior netminder Carlie Tarbell, will be making her 50th career start on Friday. Tarbell has been the starter since her sophomore season, holding a career save percentage of .743 and a GAA of 1.99. Tarbell made six saves in both games this past weekend, bringing her season total to 40. On September 8, Tarbell was named America East Defensive player of the week for the eighth time in her career.
Providence enters the weekend with a record of 3-3, having won its last matchup 5-1 over Central Michigan. Steph Guglielmo leads the Friars with 10 points (5g, 0a) with Daniella Bernasconi just behind her with nine points (4g, 1a). In six games, goalkeeper Deidra Clymer has a .675 save percentage and has a 2.07 goals against average.
Hofstra will take on UMass-Lowell on Friday before facing the Wildcats. The Pride enter the weekend at 6-1, having rattled off six straight wins and outscoring opponents by a margin of 20-6. Claudia Marin-Samper leads the team with 15 points (6g, 3a) with Jonel Boileau just behind her at 13 points (5g, 3a). Carys Swan has started the last six games for the Friars, ranking 16th in the NCAA in GAA (1.20) and 18th in save percentage (.784).
