WORCESTER, Mass. – Amidst a snow-drenched Brian Kelly '83 Stadium field, the seventh-seeded Pace University field hockey team upset No. 2 seed Assumption, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the NE10 Championships to advance on Tuesday night. 
 
The win was the first for Pace (12-7, 8-5 NE10) over nationally ranked team this yeas as Assumption checked in at No. 6 nationally on Tuesday. It also exorcised the Setters' past Greyhounds demons as Pace had been eliminated by Assumption in all three of the previous conference postseason appearances, including twice in Pleasantville as the higher seed.
 
Assumption, which had won a share of the regular season crown for a second-straight year and was looking for a repeat NE10 Championship title, outshot Pace (13-8), put more shots-on-goal (9-8) and had more penalty corners (9-6). .

"We started out a little flat and weren't playing our game," remarked head coach Kayte Kinsley postgame. "After the half, we kind of regrouped and we started playing Pace Field Hockey and ultimately that is what go us through the end." 
 
Although scoreless through two quarters, Assumption dominated the first half with a 10-1 shots advantage, challenging Pace freshman goalkeeper Alina Buerger (Königs Wusterhausen, Brandenburg, Germany/Friedrich-Schiller-Gymnasium). Buerger made six saves in the first thirty minutes of action, keeping her team alive in her first posteason action.
 
Coming in off the break, Pace awoke from its offensive slumber in the third quarter and after three and a half minutes a penalty corner found its way to sophomore midfielder Noelle Meij, who fed the ball to senior defender Hannah Wyllie (Guildford, England/George Abbot School) on the wing of the circle. Wyllie, a transplant from across the pond, passed the ball inside where junior defender Kate Demars (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) scored the first tally of the game. For Demars, the reigning NE10 Defensive Player of the Week, it was the third consecutive game with a goal. 
 

The Greyhounds (14-5, 11-2 NE10)  answered with the equalizer 10 minutes later before Meij registered the go-ahead tally in the 51st minute to help the Setters to the quarterfinal victory. 

Scoring again off a penalty corner, senior midfielder Jessica Wolfe (Halfmoon, N.Y./Shenendehowa) received the ball near the middle of the circle and passed it inside where Meij put in the game-winner.

Pace will now travel to West Haven, Conn., to face New Haven University in one of the two Friday semifinal matchups, with the winner of that game traveling to take on the winner of Adelphi-Saint Anselm on Sunday in the championship game. New Haven, a No. 6 seed, upset No. 3 Bentley, 1-0 in a double-overtime quarterfinal. 



 

NE10 FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP

Tuesday, November 15^th   

Quarterfinals – at Higher Seeds
Match 1: #8 Southern New Hampshire 1, #1 Saint Anselm 2
Match 2: #7 Pace 2, #2 Assumption 1
Match 3: #6 New Haven 1, #3 Bentley 0 (2 OT)
Match 4: #5 Saint Thomas Aquinas 3, #4 Adelphi 4

Friday, November 18^th    

Semifinals – at Higher Seeds
Match 5: #1 Saint Anselm vs. #4 Adelphi - Time TBD
Match 6: #6 New Haven vs. #7 Pace - Time TBD

Sunday, November 20^th 

Championship – at Higher Seeds
Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner - Time TBD