The Ramapo College field hockey team faced two tough New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) matchups recently, falling to both Stockton University and Kean University. With these losses, the Roadrunners’ overall record now stands at 3-12, and their NJAC standing remains winless at 0-4, as the team struggles to find its footing against conference opponents.
In their first matchup on Oct. 16, Ramapo took on Stockton University, where the Ospreys dominated with a 5-1 victory. Stockton’s performance improved their overall record to 8-6 and evened their NJAC standing at 1-1. Stockton’s midfielder Kirsten Bailey opened the scoring in the first quarter for the Ospreys, to put her team up 1-0. Just minutes later, EB Rafferty doubled the lead, scoring her first goal of the season to make it 2-0.
Stockton’s momentum continued into the second quarter, with Bailey once again stepping up and scoring her second goal of the match. This marked her 9th goal of the season, helping to extend Stockton’s lead to 3-0. Carlee Thompson followed up with her 5th goal of the season, pushing the score to 4-0 by halftime.
In the third quarter, Stockton kept the pressure on, with Makayla Alessi capitalizing on an assist from Bailey to score her third goal of the season in the 43rd minute. This gave the Ospreys a 5-0 lead. However, Ramapo avoided a shutout when senior forward Morgan Trotter found the back of the net in the 51st minute, scoring her first goal of the season, though it wasn’t enough to turn the game around.
Stockton dominated in both offensive and defensive areas, holding a 13-6 advantage in shots on goal and recording an impressive 17 penalty corners. Their defense was on point with goalkeeper Erika Roura making five saves, four of which came in the final quarter. For the Roadrunners, senior Michelle Kukan had a busy game, posting eight saves to keep the score from escalating further. Additionally, senior defender Juliana Mikulski made a notable defensive save for Ramapo, but it wasn’t enough to stifle Stockton’s relentless attack.
Following the tough loss against Stockton, Ramapo quickly turned around to face Kean University on Oct. 22. Unfortunately, the outcome was similar, as the Cougars defeated the Roadrunners 4-0 in another NJAC showdown. With this victory, Kean improved their record to 6-9 overall and 2-2 in the NJAC.
The game remained scoreless through the first quarter, but Kean broke through in the second. In the 25th minute, Madison Brege scored the opening goal off a pass from Jazmyne Frack, putting Kean on the board at 1-0. Just three minutes later, Maddison Gonzales added her third goal of the season, extending the Cougars’ lead to 2-0.
Kean continued to dominate after halftime, as Frack notched her second goal involvement of the game by scoring in the 35th minute to bring the score to 3-0. Moments later, Frack provided another assist, this time setting up Kelsey Corbett for her 5th goal of the season. Kean also outshot Ramapo 12-3 in shots on goal and led in penalty corners, 6-5. Ramapo’s goalkeeper, Kukan, once again delivered with eight saves, but the offensive attack from Kean was too much for the Roadrunners to handle.
Looking ahead, Ramapo will face The College of New Jersey on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 4 p.m. for NJAC match. The Roadrunners will also take the opportunity to honor their senior class before the start of the match. With their season winding down, the Roadrunners will be hoping to bounce back and secure a victory in front of their home crowd.
lkelyman@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @katierygielgraphics, Instagram
