WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven field hockey team opened its third season under the lights on Thursday night, suffering a 2-0 loss to the visiting American International Yellow Jackets.

Despite the setback, junior goalkeeper Natalie Shaker (Newtown, Conn./Newtown) registered six saves allowing her squad to stay within striking distance throughout. The netminder highlighted a pair of scoreless periods for the Chargers, registering three Saves in the opening frame, holding the Yellow Jackets off the board until five minutes into the second period.

She again opened up the second half with a scoreless third period, picking up her sixth and final save during the 15-minute frame, while holding AIC without a goal until the final two minutes of the game when they added the insurance tally.

Offensively, New Haven registered six shots, marking four of them on goal as the Yellow Jackets keeper, Jessica Stone, was called into action once in the opening period and three more times in the second period. All six of the Chargers shots came in the first 30 minutes of action.

Leading the Blue and Gold's attacked was sophomore Morgan McCarty (Uxbridge, Mass./Uxbridge) who finished with a pair of shots as both of hers forced Stone to make a save. Alexis Rider (Delran, N.J./Delran) and Taylor Geaglone (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) also registered shots on goal, while Rider joined McCarty with two total shots.

New Haven will return to action on Sunday afternoon when they take to the road for the first time this season to meet the Assumption Greyhounds in a non-conference game. The game, which will take place at Multi-Sport Stadium in Worcester, Mass., is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start.