The No. 17 ranked Rowan field hockey team traveled down to Maryland on Saturday, Oct. 7, for a game against St. Mary’s College. Unfortunately, the team fell to St. Mary’s by a final score of 3-1, knocking them back down to .500 on the season with a 6-6 record.

St. Mary’s got on the board first and fast, as they found the back of the net within the opening three minutes of the game. This was the first of three straight goals against the Profs, as St. Mary’s scored a goal in each of the first three quarters, putting the Profs into a deficit that they could not overcome.

The Profs’ offense had a hard time finding a rhythm all day as the team only managed to fire off seven shots, with just four of those being on goal all day. Defensively, Rowan was able to limit St. Mary’s to just eight shots, however, they were able to sneak some past Rowan’s goalie Aida Ingram.

With just four games left in the season and three of those being New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) games, the Profs understand that they can’t replicate this performance against those teams.

“It was not our best performance obviously but there’s always more to learn and to work on and I think with Kean coming up, it is just time to work and get after the next one,” senior captain Sarita Marshall said.

Rowan’s hoping these improvements can help them during the home stretch of the season, as they currently sit in fourth place in the NJAC standings with a 1-1 conference record. Their conference record is the same as Kean and Stockton, however, those two teams have a better overall record. TCNJ currently sits in first place, with a conference record of 3-0 and an overall record of 9-3.

There was one bright spot from the game, as Marshall netted her first career goal in the fourth quarter with 10 minutes to go to help the Profs avoid the shutout. Immediately after, her teammates ran over to her and started to celebrate.

“It was surreal,” Marshall said. ”Like realizing that I touched it and looking at all my teammates hugging me. It was a good boost as we realized we had time on the clock.”

The Profs are hoping that Marshall’s goal can prove to be a momentum booster for a late season push, especially with the magnitude of the upcoming games.

Rowan will look to get back in the win column on Friday, Oct. 13, at 5:30 p.m., when the conference rival and No. 13 ranked Kean University Cougars come to town to kick off homecoming weekend.

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