Last year the Chargers went 9-11 on the year, 8-5 in conference, with many firsts accumulating throughout the season. Beating the Assumption Greyhounds and hosting a Northeast-10 Conference Championship game, were just some of many milestones that the Chargers accomplished in the prior season. The University of New Haven Field Hockey team took the trip down to Kutztown, Pennsylvania to open up their season, hoping to solidify their first win on the season, and their new head coach Margaret Maclean's first win at the D2 level but came up short in the fourth quarter.
 
Taking the field to start the first quarter, the Chargers and the No. 4 ranked Bears set off with guns blazing as soon as the whistle blew. The entirety of the first half remained even in score, but the highlight fell on the New Haven defense. The backfield lead by senior Kelli Jacobson (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) and transfer goalie Hallie Reiger (Oklahoma City, Okla./Casady School), making her debut in blue and gold, were able to keep the Bears to nil throughout the first half.
 
Kutztown finding a total of 24 shots throughout the game, were shut down by the Chargers defense, up until the second half. The Chargers feeling the same pressure from the Bears defense were only able to find one shot in the game, coming from senior Katherine Trammel.
 
With minimal offensive momentum for the Chargers, it fell into the hands of Hallie Reiger (Oklahoma City, Okla./Casady School), facing a total of 16 shots in the game. At almost six minutes in the fourth quarter the Bears were able to find themselves a corner, sending the ball to the top of the circle, packing the stroke line and finding their first goal to the left corner of Reiger. Their second goal followed on another corner with just under three minutes remaining in the game, sending the ball to the top, dishing off to the left, finding the backboard once again.
 
With only a few minutes remaining in the game, the Chargers were unable to find their first goal and would take their first loss of the season.
The Chargers will head back home to DellaCamera to host their home opener on Tuesday, September 5^th against the Lions of Molloy. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and you can catch all of the action available on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW.