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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Madi Robito netted a 4th-minute goal and the top-seeded University of New England defense was rock-solid as the Nor'easters topped No.4 Roger Williams University by a 1-0 margin in the semifinals of the 2022 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Field Hockey Championship at Blue Bolt Field on Thursday night (Nov. 3).

UNE (10-9) will now entertain second seed Endicott College in Saturday's 1:00 p.m. tournament final, making it eight consecutive seasons competing for the trophy, and 10 of the last 11. On the other half of the draw, the Gulls turned a three-goal halftime cushion into a 5-3 result against No.3 Western New England University. [Interactive Bracket]

The Nor'easter attack came out firing, with three shots-on-goal and two penalty corners prior to Robito's tally at the 3:25 mark. Shelly Tremblay collected her own, long rebound on the left side and pushed it towards a crowd in front. The ball hopped through for Robito to finish into an open right-portion of the cage, upping her team-leading total to 10 goals [Watch]. Of those, four have wound up as the deciding marker.

From there, UNE displayed a relentless, full-field defensive effort from the likes of Tremblay, Kate Lindmark, Lauren Green, Georgia Eson, Sarah Padellaro, Francesca Caccamo, and more. The squad's sixth shutout was the first in which the Nor'easters did not allow any shot attempts or corners, and goalie Lindsay Pych went untested. 

Somewhat similar to the regular-season meeting that UNE won on the road in overtime (2-1), the Hawks also held their own defensively. The Nor'easters wrapped the night with just seven total shots and four corners. Hannah Brazil did her part between the pipes, recording five saves for RWU, which closes out 2022 with a 12-8 ledger.

Saturday's title match will showcase one of the deepest conference rivalries, in any sport. Since the Biddeford program began in 2003, Endicott has a CCC regular-season record of 138-38, barely ahead of the Nor'easters (135-41). The Gulls lead the all-time series by a 19-17 split, with 24 meetings resolved by one goal (12-12), including a dozen going beyond regulation. League crowns are 5-5, just since 2010, as one of the teams has claimed all but one of the last 11 trophies (EC 4-3, head-to-head). UNE comes in with the most-recent positive result, picking up the October 22 home contest (1-0) -- courtesy of Robito in the 49th minute.