Rowan University field hockey’s defense dominated Saturday afternoon in a, 3-0, win over Montclair State University at Coach Richard Wackar Stadium. Alexa Ronning’s pair of goals and another by Mia Foti snapped the No. 14-nationally ranked Profs’ two-game losing streak in their regular season finale.
The Red Hawks’ offense finished with zero shots, zero shots on goal, and zero corners, the first time an opponent hasn’t been able to tally those statistics against Rowan this season. As for the Profs, they commanded Montclair State in every category, finishing with 30 shots, 18 shots on goal, and 17 corners.
It was an easy day for the Profs’ goalkeeper Mariah Juiliano, who never saw the ball come her way. She had no saves against Montclair State.
“Our defense did absolutely amazing,” Foti said. “Like, having not one shot on goal. I’m so happy to see them succeed like that.”
Foti’s third quarter gave Rowan the lead in Saturday’s New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) game. Ronning added her two goals across the third and fourth to give her team a three-score advantage.
The Profs were coming off back-to-back road shutout losses against No. 1-nationally ranked Christopher Newport and No. 4 Salisbury, and with Saturday’s win, they end the regular season with a perfect 6-0 conference record.
“This is going to really set us up for the postseason,” Ronning said. “I think this gives us an extra boost of confidence before going into the playoffs.”
Despite outpacing Montclair State on defense, the game was still scoreless headed into halftime. The Red Hawks got stops on all of Rowan’s seven first-half corners, with goalkeeper Sydney White adding five saves. White finished with 15 saves facing Rowan.
Foti, who is second of the team in goals behind Sydney Kowalczyk, added her 11th score 35 seconds into the third quarter off a pass from Tess Herman. That goal by the sophomore opened up the offensive scoring for Rowan, with Ronning’s two goals adding much-needed insurance to secure their NJAC-leading 14th win of the season.
“The first half I feel like we were letting them dictate what they were going to do. We should’ve set the tone,” Foti said. “We went into the second half very disciplined and knowing, okay we have to do this now. We need to finish this, like, no more messing around.”
With the regular season over, the Profs turn their attention to the NJAC playoffs. They’ll take on the Kean Cougars this Wednesday in the semifinals at Coach Richard Wackar Stadium.
Rowan captured the regular-season title with their win over William Paterson two weeks ago, and as a result, will have the No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament. This year’s semifinals is the first step on the Profs’ road to five consecutive conference titles, with a five-peat having not occurred in the NJAC since the conference was first formed in 1985.
As for the program, they’ve made it to the NJAC Championship game every year since the 2018 season. As for the upcoming playoffs, head coach Michelle Andre got straight to the point.
“I don’t care who we play at this point in the season,” Andre said. “You gotta win.”
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