van den Brekel's Two Goals, Assist Leads UNH Past UVM, 3-1

Friday, September 29

Durham, NH

3 PM

University of New Hampshire

(4-5, 1-1AE)

University of Vermont

(4-6, 0-1AE)

VERMONT

New Hampshire

9/29/2017 6:03:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Video Highlights

DURHAM, N.H. – Bloem van den Brekel (Eindhoven, Netherlands) recorded two goals and an assist to lead the University of New Hampshire field hockey team to Friday afternoon's 3-1 victory against the University of Vermont at Memorial Field.

It marked the first career multiple-goal game for the freshman midfielder, and the five points are also a personal best. Ashley Mendonca (Brampton, Ontario) scored the Wildcats' other goal and was also credited with a defensive save.

UNH goalkeeper Kelsey Rudert (North Grafton, Mass.) stopped three shots. UVM counterpart Lena Benwood made eight of her nine saves in the first half to keep the Catamounts within a goal.

New Hampshire improved to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in America East. Vermont is now 4-5, 0-1.

UP NEXT

The UNH field hockey team concludes its three-game homestand Oct. 1 against ninth-ranked Boston College. Start time at Memorial Field is 1 p.m..

GAME INFO
Date: September 29, 2017
Location: Memorial Field (Durham, N.H.)
Attendance: 169
Score: UNH 3, Vermont 1
Updated Records: UNH (4-5, 1-1 America East), UVM (4-6, 0-1 America East)

GAME RECAP

UNH controlled play in the opening minutes and converted a penalty corner into a 1-0 lead at 11:56. Instead of taking the direct shot from the top of the circle, Jessica Schmidt (Warrington, Pa.) slipped a pass back down to van den Brekel, who initiated the corner with the insert and finished the scoring play by turning and lifting a shot inside the left post.
UNH led by that score at halftime with the edge in both shots (11-3) and corners (6-3).
The Wildcats quickly transformed that one-goal lead into a 3-0 advantage with goals less than four minutes apart -- at 38:50 and 42:23.
The battery of van den Brekel and Rachel Bossi (Chelmsford, Mass.) set up Mendonca's direct shot from the top of the circle that eluded Benwood and rolled into the cage for a 2-0 lead.
Gianna Bensaia (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) carried the ball into the right side of the circle and sent a hard diagonal pass toward the left post, where an unmarked van den Brekel redirected the ball into the open cage.
Vermont called time out and scored 52 seconds later. Jackie Gillen drove across the top of the circle to the right side before directing a shot on goal that Landon Warren redirected off the crossbar and across the goal line to trim the deficit to 3-1 at 43:15.

UNH NOTEBOOK

New Hampshire improved to 2-1 at home this season.
UNH is 4-0 when scoring three or more goals in '17.
UNH has a 33-5 lifetime record against Vermont with 12 consecutive wins in the series spanning the 2008-17 seasons.
UVM has not scored more than one goal each of the past seven Battle of the 'Cats.
van den Brekel is the second Wildcat with a two-goal, five- point effort; Katie Audino (Severn, Md.) finished with those stats in the season opener against Northeastern.
van den Brekel is now second on the team in both goals (three) and points (nine).
Mendonca has recorded both of UNH's defensive saves this year.
UNH's four assists is the second-highest total of the season; the Wildcats tallied six assists in the season opener vs. Northeastern.

SHOTS: UNH 11-5–16. UVM 3-3–6.

PENALTY CORNERS: UNH 6-2-8. UVM 3-2–5.

GOALS
UNH (3): Bloem van den Brekel (2), Ashley Mendonca
UVM (1): Landon Warren

ASSISTS
UNH (4): Gianna Bensaia, Rachel Bossi, Jessica Schmidt, Bloem van den Brekel
UVM (1): Jackie Gillen

SAVES
UNH: Kelsey Rudert 2-1–3 (70:00; 1 GA) [WIN]
UVM: Lena Benwood 8-1–9 (70:00; 3 GA) [loss]

DEFENSIVE SAVES
UNH (1): Ashley Mendonca
UVM (0)