North Andover, MA – The Wagner field hockey team defeated Merrimack 7-0 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener.
The Seahawks were off and running early in its first NEC game of the season as sophomore
Liselotte Koop tallied the game's first goal off a pass from graduate student
Julia Cruces Pastorino 5:38 into the contest. Less than 30 seconds later, Cruces Pastorino tallied her first goal of the game. With 30 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, Cruces Pastorino tallied her second goal of the game as Wagner took a 3-0 lead into the second quarter.
Neither team tallied a goal in the second quarter. Merrimack tallied three shots on target that were all stopped by graduate student goalkeeper
Daisy Ruhle to keep the Warriors off the board.
With the Green & White holding a 3-0 advantage heading into the second half, senior
Sara Nelson tallied her first goal of the 2022 season off an assist from classmate
Kira Mordvinov 7:10 into the third quarter. Mordvinov tallied her first goal of the game 69 seconds later to give Wagner a 5-0 lead.
Julia Cruces Pastorino completed her hat trick 9:20 into the third quarter as her third goal of the game extended the Seahawk lead to 6-0.
With Wagner holding a 6-0 lead, Cruces Pastorino tallied her fourth and final goal of the game with a little over five minutes remaining in regulation.
Four different goal scorers tallied goals for Wagner as
Daisy Ruhle stopped seven shots in the shutout victory. The shutout was the first for the program since April 5, 2021 against Bryant. For Ruhle, it was her first career shutout as a Seahawk.
The win brings Wagner to 5-4 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.
Wagner moves to 4-0 all-time against Merrimack as the Seahawks have outscored the Warriors 24-3.
Wagner will be back in action on Sunday, October 2 when they travel to Providence, RI to take on Brown in a non-conference contest at 1:30 P.M.
