HOBOKEN, N.J. (Oct. 16, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team made history Saturday as they set a program record with their 10th consecutive win, racing past Misericordia University Saturday 2-1 at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

With the win, Stevens is now the lone remaining undefeated team in MAC Freedom play this season as they improved to 11-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play. The Cougars, meanwhile, fell for the first time in league competition this season as they dropped to 9-5 overall and 0-1 in the MAC Freedom.

Prior to Saturday's win, the longest win streak in program history was nine straight in the 2008 season when Stevens finished with a 19-4 record and won the Empire 8 Conference before advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

With no score through nearly the entirety of the first half, the Ducks were able to get on the board first with less than a minute left in the second quarter.

After forcing a turnover, first-year Makenna Quigley collected the ball just inside the circle and fired a shot at the cage that found the stick of junior Lynda Farinella who redirected the shot between the legs of the goalkeeper and into the bottom left corner of goal to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead headed into the break.

It was Farinella's third consecutive game with a goal and seventh consecutive game with a point dating all the way back to Stevens' 3-2 overtime win over Cabrini. The assist for Quigley was the first of her collegiate career and also was her first point in 13 career games for the Ducks.

Stevens extended the lead to two in the 36th minute of game action when Allison Buffenbarger was able to collect a pass off a penalty corner and began to wind up to shoot. A Cougar defender raced out to contest but was called for being too aggressive on the play and gave the Ducks a penalty stroke opportunity.

Senior Aryana Muscara calmly stepped to the middle of the circle and buried her penalty stroke opportunity into the upper-right portion of the cage to put Stevens up 2-0.

Muscara is now 3-3 in penalty stroke opportunities this season and has scored 11 times to rank second in the MAC Freedom in both goals and points on the year.

Misericordia made things interesting late in the contest as Morgan Sauter fired a shot at goal in the 59th minute that was redirected by Madison Posivak into the cage to cut the deficit in half.

It was all for naught, however, as the Ducks held on for the final minute of game action to move into sole possession of first place in the MAC Freedom with three conference games remaining.

Prior to the contest, Stevens honored its fifth-year and senior classes consisting of Alyssa Appleby, Allison Buffenbarger, Anna Cooper, Kila Eadie, Emily Franco, Brynn Froehlich, Samantha Gajda, Samantha Hessels, Ellie Jenkins, Aryana Muscara, Keegan O'Connor, Shannon Stewart and Emily Walker who have compiled a 34-17 record since 2018.

Inside the Numbers

• The Ducks held a 17-5 advantage in shots and an 8-2 edge in shots on goal.
• Stevens racked up seven penalty corner opportunities in the contest while the Cougars registered just three.
• Eadie led the Ducks in shots with four while Farinella and first-year Lauren Jones added three apiece.
• Franco made one save in goal for the Ducks to lower her season goals against average to 1.41, good for second in the MAC Freedom.
• In the current 10-game win streak, Stevens has outscored its opponents 32-9.
• The Ducks are now 5-1 in one-goal games this season and have earned four of those victories as a part of this winning streak.
• This season, Stevens leads the MAC Freedom as a team in average scoring margin (1.62), shots (254) and corners (152).
• The Ducks can clinch a spot in the conference tournament in their next contest at home against Delaware Valley University.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Meredith Spencer-Blaetz)

• "What an exciting senior day! We knew this was a big game, and the team brought energy and enthusiasm today. Misericordia played an excellent game and kept us on our toes, but our team just knew that we had what it takes to win. I am so proud of this group for making history, and I know they are going to keep pushing even further."
• "In many ways, there aren't words to sum up this class and what they have meant and will continue to mean to this program. This group of 15 young women have shown such tremendous growth and resilience over during their time at Stevens. We have finesse forwards, relentless midfielders, fierce defenders, and a stellar goalkeeper. They have made the Stevens field hockey program what it is today and have truly set the standard for years to come. The combination of my first recruiting class and my largest recruiting class graduating together is bittersweet, but I couldn't be more proud to have had the opportunity to coach each one of them."

Next Up

• The quest for the first MAC Freedom title in program history continues next Wednesday as the Ducks welcome Delaware Valley to Hoboken for an afternoon contest starting at 4:00 p.m.
• Stevens has won each of the two matchups between the two programs including a thrilling 2-1 overtime win in 2019 thanks to the game-winner from Anna Cooper.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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