Friday’s Field Hockey Results
App State 7, Towson 1
James Madison 3, Villanova 2
Kent State 10, Mercyhurst 1
UMass 2, Vermont 0
Miami 4, UC Davis 0
Ohio State 7, Ball State 0
Saint Francis 4, Bellarmine 0
Drexel 2, Central Michigan 1
Richmond 3, Longwood 0
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
App State 7, Towson 1
Box Score
TOWSON, Md. – The App State Mountaineers defeated the Towson Tigers 7-1 to open the field hockey season on Friday.
The Mountaineers never trailed, tying the Tigers briefly before pulling away.
The seven goals are the most the Mountaineers have scored in a season opener since a 7-1 win against Wake Forest in 1981.
Lise Boekaar was a force all over the field, scoring her first goals of the season and assisting on every other goal against the Tigers. With five assists in the game, Boekaar's career total now stands at 20, moving her to third all-time and passing Bridgette Burkhardt. She needs three more assists to claim the second spot.
It was a flurry of offense to begin and end the game, with the Mountaineers scoring three goals in the first period and four in the final period. App State's defense also held its own, allowing just two shots for the entire game and keeping the Tigers scoreless for the remaining 55 minutes of the contest.
The first period was an offensive show with four combined goals. Boekaar scored the first goal of the season off a penalty corner, assisted by Samantha Connors and Hadley Kuzmicky. The Tigers quickly followed with a goal of their own. Less than two minutes later, Kate Richardson scored her first career goal as a Mountaineer, assisted by Boekaar. Boekaar's second assist came off a penalty corner, setting up Sophia Baxter for her first goal of the season.
Both sides were held scoreless in the second. The Mountaineers got five shots, with three requiring a save.
The Mountaineers kept up the pace in the third, dominating the ball and keeping the Tigers away from scoring positions. App State had five shots in the quarter, one of which was saved by the Towson goalkeeper.
App State opened the final period with a goal from Kuzmicky, her first of the season and Boekaar's third assist of the game. A little over a minute later, following a penalty corner, Richardson found the back of the cage for her second goal, and Boekaar recorded her fourth assist. The Mountaineers kept the pressure on, with Kassie Paul scoring her first goal of the season, and Boekaar notching her fifth assist of the contest. Boekaar also scored her second goal of the game, assisted by Samantha Connors. The Mountaineers closed out the game with two more corners and six more shots before clinching the first win of the season.
The Mountaineers will remain in Towson, Md. to take on the Georgetown Hoyas on Sunday. First touch is slated for 3 p.m. at the TU Field Hockey Complex.
James Madison 3, Villanova 2
Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Tied 2-2 early in the fourth quarter, Brynna Hill connected with Alice Roeper who spun around the Villanova goalkeeper for the gamewinner in a 3-2 season-opening victory over the Wildcats on Friday at Maryland's Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
The Dukes (1-0, 0-0 MAC) have been victorious in seven consecutive season openers and have won four of their last five games outside of Harrisonburg.
Freshman Puck Jansen scored the game's opening goal on the first shot of her collegiate career. In her first game back since September 2024, Madelief Molier found the back of the net on a tip-in during a penalty corner. Roeper finished with one goal and one assist for three points, while Hill and Jola Ollrogge both recorded a pair of helpers in the win. Netminder Molly Schreiner rejected two shots for her 11th career victory as the Dukes limited Villanova to four shots on goal.
Ava Borkowski, a Preseason All-BIG EAST Team selection, notched both goals for the Wildcats and accounted for five of Villanova's 11 shots. Goalkeeper Maddi Sears stopped four shots, facing five JMU penalty corners.
Just under five minutes into the contest, the Dukes converted on a penalty corner with the insertion from Hill, a stop by Ollrogge and the shot and score from Jansen.
JMU doubled its lead on another corner, this time finished by Molier with a deflection off assists from Roeper and Ollrogge to make it 2-0 at the 4:35 mark of the second.
Villanova responded with an unassisted strike from Borkowski with under three minutes remaining in the frame to trail 2-1 at the break.
Borkowski found the equalizer with 29 seconds left in the frame to tie the game at 2-2. Moments later, Villanova was awarded a penalty stroke which was thwarted by Schreiner to keep the game tied going into the fourth.
Hill found Roeper for the gamewinner, with the captain spinning around Sears for the strike.
JMU will have a quick turnaround as they finish the Conference Cup against Stanford on Sunday, Aug. 31. Game time is slated for 11 a.m. and will stream on Big Ten Plus.
Kent State 10, Mercyhurst 1
Box Score
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State field hockey team opened the 2025 season in style on Friday, notching a 10-1 victory over Mercyhurst at Murphy-Mellis Field. The prolific goal-scoring performance for the Flashes marks the team's highest output in a season-opener since 1980.
Kent State received multi-goal games from Emma Seger, Maybritt Duwel, Lauren Conroy, and Tess Gately en route to the program's first win in a season-opener since 2022, when the Flashes won an overtime affair 1-0 at Indiana.
After ten minutes of scoreless play in the opening quarter, the Flashes broke the seal as Emma Rolston opened her account from an Eva Usoz assist. Just minutes later, Conroy scored the third goal of her collegiate career to double Kent State's lead at the first intermission. Mercyhurst would find its lone goal of the contest just over nine minutes into the second quarter, before a quick response from Seger allowed the Flashes to regain a multi-goal lead. After scoring the opener, Conroy added a second goal just before halftime to give Kent State a 4-1 lead at the break.
The Flashes' offense hit its stride in the third quarter, as they added four goals in the period to improve their lead to 8-1 after 45 minutes of play. The first two goals of Gately's collegiate career added to goals from Duwel and Seger in the third stanza to give the Flashes a comfortable advantage heading into the fourth. Duwel opened the final quarter with her second of the game just over 90 seconds in, before Marissa Skinner found the back of the cage for her first career goal to put an exclamation mark on an all-around dominant performance from the Flashes and secure the 10-1 victory.
In addition to receiving goals from six different players, Seger and Maia Sarrabayrouse each recorded two assists, while Usoz, Delfina Larripa, and Skinner provided one assist each. In the cage, Floortje Van Eijden started her first career game as a freshman before Allison Wood took the reins in the second half. The pair conceded just one shot on target in the game.
Next up, the Flashes head to Columbus on Sunday, August 31, to take on #13 Ohio State. The matchup with the Big Ten foe is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.
UMass 2, Vermont 0
Box Score
BURLINGTON, VT -- No. 14 Massachusetts (1-0) controlled the action, claiming a 2-0 shutout victory over Vermont (0-1) in its season opener on Friday at Moulton Winder Field.
The win marks the first of the 2025 season and 98th of the Barb Weinberg era. The Minutewomen allowed just two shots on the day, spending the majority of the action in the offensive third.
Gabrielle Benkenstein got her senior season started on the right foot, recording a goal and an assist in the matchup. Sophomore Neva Eisenga also notched a goal and an assist, with each tally coming off a pair of penalty corners.
Vermont was led by goalkeeper Merle Vaandrager who recorded six saves on the day.
The Minutewomen spent the majority of the first quarter in the offensive third but could not find their season opener through 15 minutes of play.
Neva Eisenga tallied the game's opening goal, firing in a penalty corner with assists from Gabrielle Benkenstein and Fiene Jenniskens.
Massachusetts continued to control the action through two quarters of play, holding a 7-0 advantage in shots and 1-0 lead at the break.
Emily Barrett drew a penalty corner with 10:13 to play in the third quarter, resulting in back-to-back attempts and a tip in goal from Benkenstein to make it 2-0 Minutewomen.
Despite holding a 12-1 advantage in shots through 45 minutes, the Minutewomen held just a 2-0 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Massachusetts completed the season opening shutout, the final whistle sounding with the score 2-0.
The Minutewomen continue their season opening road trip, taking on UMass Lowell for the Kennedy Cup on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 3 p.m. at Wicked Blue Field. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be followed live on umassathletics.com or UMassFH on Twitter.
Miami 4, UC Davis 0
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – Miami field hockey shut out the UC Davis Aggies Friday 4-0 to debut their season. The RedHawks held the Aggies to just two penalty corners during the match and midfielder Malena Sabez scored two of Miami's four goals. The RedHawks move to 1-0 while UC Davis falls to 0-1 on the season.
Just five minutes into the first period, Judit Garcia Gregori fired off two shots, scoring on the second to put the RedHawks ahead 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, Berta Mata found the back of the net, scoring to make it 2-0.
Early in the second period, Miami was awarded a penalty corner. Becca Lawn injected the ball to Berta Matta, who set up Malena Sabez to bury Miami's third goal of the game.
The RedHawks had two penalty corners in the third period, but UC Davis's defense held the score to 3-0.
Sabez scored her second goal of the match on a penalty corner off an assist by Sloane Wearren less than two minutes into the fourth period.
The RedHawks kept UC Davis at bay for the final 15 to finalize a 4-0 victory.
Saint Francis University will come to Oxford on Sunday to square off against the RedHawks. The match is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
