Statistics

BEVERLY, Mass. -- Micaela Jacobs netted a pair of goals and Dawn DeWeese-Moss provided 11 saves as fourth seed University of New England went on the road and shocked No.1 Endicott College, 3-2, in the semifinals of the 2024 Conference of New England (CNE) Field Hockey Championship at North Field on Wednesday night (Nov. 6).

The Nor'easters (9-11) will make their 12th appearance [21 seasons] in the league title game on Saturday (1 p.m.); UNE is set to visit No.2 Roger Williams University, which beat Western New England University, 2-0, on the other side of the bracket. The Gulls (14-5) went through the CNE regular season without a blemish on their record [5-0], but will now have to wait and see if their year can continue with an at-large bid when the national tournament field is announced on Sunday night.

Wednesday's result was UNE's first in five all-time trips to Endicott for conference postseason action.

The Nor'easters -- who fell to the Gulls on a 51st-minute goal from Tori Swanson back on September 21 (1-0) -- struck first in this one, as Madi Robito pounced on a loose rebound in the crease less than three minutes into the match [Watch]. Swanson had the hosts back even (1-1) just 2:17 later, though.

Jacobs matched her career-high with the two scores in the contest, the first of which came early in the 2nd quarter by tipping in a lofted shot by Shelly Tremblay [Watch]. Then, in the 39th minute, another rebound in front bounced right at Jacobs, whose quick reaction blocked it back between the goalie and a defender over the line [Watch].
 
All three of UNE's goals originated with penalty corners, and, through 45 minutes, the Nor'easters maintained advantages in shots (19-15) and corners (6-5).

The top seed ramped up the pressure in the 4th and had two extended sequences early in the period. The first included two shots and three corners but came up empty, and less than two minutes later, another corner ultimately led to Endicott trimming the gap to 3-2 with 12:25 left on the clock. DeWeese-Moss sprawled to deny two attempts, and Jacobs held the goal line for a couple of defensive saves, but neither could keep Swanson from adding one more. At last check, Swanson was leading Division III at a rate of 1.59 goals per game.

Jacobs entered the day ranked 3rd in the nation for total defensive saves with 13, and now stands on shy of the program single-season record from 2012.

The Gulls had chances with two more corners, but could not get another shot to the target before time expired. [Watch]

UNE will be in search of the program's 7th conference crown on Saturday in Rhode Island. The Nor'easters traveled to RWU on October 26 and the Hawks logged their first-ever result (3-0) against UNE in 21 meetings; the Nor'easters, however, are 3-for-3 versus Roger Williams in the postseason (all semifinals).