GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: September 2, 2021
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LOCATION: Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium
West Haven, Conn. |
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GAME DAY LINKS |
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO |
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THE LEAD
The New Haven field hockey team will debut its fourth team in program history with three-straight home games, the first of which welcomes the Adelphi Panthers to DellaCamera Stadium for a non-conference match-up. When the Chargers take the field for their season opener they will end a 670 day hiatus, last competing on November 1, 2019. It will also mark the first official game for any Charger team on the newly installed turf at DellaCamera Stadium.
SERIES HISTORY VS ADELPHI
New Haven and Adelphi meet for the fourth time in the history of the two programs with this the second non-conference battle between the two squads. The first meeting in the series came in the Chargers inaugural season in 2017 with the Panthers taking a 10-0 decision. In all three of the previous meetings combined, the Chargers have yet to net a goal against Adelphi while surrendering 19 total scores. Defensively, the Blue and Gold have improved steadily since that initial meeting in 2017, holding Adelphi to just three goals in the last meeting in 2019, the lone game in the series that took place at Adelphi's Motamed Field.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
New Haven returns a plethora of experience in 2021 with the only major loss coming with the graduation of goalkeeper Natalie Shaker (Newtown, Conn./Newtown), one of the original members of the Chargers first varsity program. Who fills her void will be decided by a battle between graduate transfer Keira Integlia (Branford, Conn./Branford) and sophomore Maddy Spotts (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook). On the offensive side of the ball, the Chargers return all but two of their six goal scorers from 2019, which equals 11 of the 13 total goals New Haven scored that season. Leading the way is senior Julia Battino (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) who finished with four goals for eight points. Seniors Taylor Geaglone (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) and Alexis Rider (Delran, N.J./Delran) follow her with seven and four points respectively, Geaglone's seven points came on two goals and a team-high three assists, while Rider added a pair of goals.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Adelphi returns to the field in 2021 after tying a school record for wins in a single season with a 14-5 overall record, which included a 12-2 mark in Northeast-10 Conference games. The Panthers will enter the new season after being picked to finish third in the preseason poll of head coaches, where they also picked up three of the 15 possible first place votes. Adelphi returns 11 players from that 2019 team, including an NFHCA Second Team All-American Jackie Brown and four additional NE10 All-Conference selections; Danielle Kempf, Alexandra Docyk, Bianca Bachisin and Giana McKeough. On the field, the Panthers will be without their leading scorer from 2019, Elissa Frein, however she will have a presence on the sideline as she joins the Adelphi coaching staff. Brown will return as the leading scorer, finishing 2019 tied with Frein with eight goals, while adding a trio of assists.
THE 2021 SCHEDULE
The New Haven Field Hockey team kicks off its fourth season in the history of the program with seven of its first nine games at home, part of an 18-game schedule that makes up the 2021 campaign. A total of 11 of the Chargers 18 games will come on the home turf at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium. Following the regular season, the top eight teams in the conference standings following regular season qualifying for the NE10 Championship, which opens with a quarterfinal match-up on Nov. 2 at the home sites of the four highest seeds. The semifinal and championship matches will also take place at home sites on Nov. 5 and Nov. 7, respectively.
CHARGERS NINTH IN PRESEASON POLL
Entering their fourth season as a varsity program, the New Haven field hockey team has been picked to finish 9th in the 2021 Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Chargers return to the field for the first time since the 2019 campaign when they finished with five victories, all of which came in NE10 action. New Haven finished the preseason voting with 87 points, the most they have earned in the preseason poll, keeping them inside of the top-10 for the first time. Saint Anselm earned the top billing, scoring 11 of the 15 possible first place points for a total of 190 points. Assumption and Adelphi split the remaining first place tallies with Assumption earning 171 points and one first place vote to finish second and Adelphi earning 163 points including three first place votes to finish third overall. Rounding out the top-five was a pair of teams tied for fourth place with 146 points, Stonehill and Southern New Hampshire.
UP NEXT
New Haven will continue it season opening three-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when they host another NE10 foe for a non-conference contest when Saint Anselm visits West Haven. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start. All of the action can be followed live online with live video on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW, while live stats will also be available via NewHavenChargers.com.
