HOBOKEN, N.J. (Oct. 2, 2021) – Led by a pair of goals from senior Aryana Muscara, the Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team continued its strong start to the 2021 season and pushed its winning streak to five with a 4-2 victory over DeSales University Saturday at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

The Ducks scored the first four goals of the game, including three in the first quarter, to improve to 6-2 and 2-0 MAC Freedom on the season. The 6-2 start for the Ducks is now the best eight-game stretch to open a season since the 2015 season that saw Stevens win the Empire 8 Conference and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Muscara, who now leads the team with five goals this season, netted the first and third goals of the game for Stevens while senior Alyssa Appleby scored the second and senior Kila Eadie capped things off with the fourth.

Stevens also got a solid effort in goal from senior Emily Franco who set a new season-high with 11 saves. It was Franco's sixth career game with at least 10 saves and her first since making 12 saves in a 3-2 win over FDU-Florham on Oct. 30, 2019.

After the Bulldogs controlled the pace for the first three minutes of action, the Ducks were able to connect with a goal on their first offensive opportunity of the game.

Junior Natalie Logan collected a pass from Brynn Froehlich in the box and took a shot at the cage that was deflected, but she was able to draw a foul in the box and give the Ducks a penalty stroke.

As she did earlier this season in the win over Swarthmore, Muscara was able to step up and fire a shot just past the goalkeeper into the upper-right corner of the cage to put Stevens on top 1-0.

Less than two minutes later in the sixth minute of game action, junior Lynda Farinella passed a ball in front of goal to Froehlich. The fifth-year from San Diego, Calif., blasted a shot towards the left edge of the cage that Appleby was able to deflect back across the face of goal to extend the lead to 2-0.

Appleby has now scored goals in back-to-back games after scoring her first goal of the season Wednesday against Cabrini. The assist for Froehlich was her second of the year as she now has three points in her last three games.

Just before the end of the quarter at the 14-minute mark Muscara was able to strike once again, this time scoring on a set piece on a penalty corner. After Eadie ripped a pass into the middle of the circle, Appleby took a shot that was saved but deflected to the feet of Muscara who finished into the left side of the net.

Muscara is now tied for sixth in the MAC Freedom with 14 points on the year after coming into the season with just one career point.

The score remained 3-0 in favor of the Ducks until early in the second half when Eadie extended the lead with some fancy footwork. After Muscara passed the ball in on a penalty corner, Eadie collected and juked a defender before firing a line drive past the goalkeeper to give Stevens its largest lead of the 2021 season.

Eadie is now tied for second on the team with four goals this season and has totaled seven points in her last four games.

DeSales made things interesting in the fourth quarter, getting on the scoreboard in the 53rd minute when Ashlee Jopp scored her second goal of the season off an assist from Abbie Tarczynski.

The Bulldogs added another goal late in the 59th minute of game action by Maddie Trocki to cut the deficit in half, but never threatened to take the lead in the contest as they dropped to 4-6 overall
and 0-2 in MAC Freedom play.

Inside the Numbers

• The Bulldogs held a 17-15 edge in shots with a 9-2 edge in the fourth quarter.
• Conversely, Stevens had a 14-13 edge in shots on goal as just one of their shots on the day was off target.
• Both teams took seven corners on the day, with four of the six total goals on the day coming on penalty corners.
• The four goals for the Ducks are a season-best since exactly two years ago when Stevens defeated Cabrini University 7-0.
• It is the first win for Stevens over DeSales since Sept. 26, 2007, after the Bulldogs won each of the two matchups between the two teams in 2019.
• Despite not hitting their season average the past two games, the Ducks still rank seventh in NCAA Division III with 11.43 penalty corners per game.
• Stevens now ranks second in the MAC Freedom with exactly 2.0 assists per game.
• The Ducks are now one of just three remaining teams unbeaten in MAC Freedom play along with Misericordia University and Arcadia University.
• Stevens committed 64 fouls in the game while the Bulldogs had 52.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Meredith Spencer-Blaetz)

• "Super exciting day for the Ducks today! We have been focused on some specific areas of the game this week and it's really gratifying to see them implement those during game play. We continue to work and get better every single day and look forward to a full week of games coming up."

Up Next

• The Ducks have a quick turnaround for their next contest as they take on Drew University in a makeup of a game originally scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 22 on Monday, Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m. in Madison, N.J.
• Stevens has won seven of the 10 all-time matchups between the two programs and each of the last five, including a 7-0 victory on Sept. 25, 2019, the last time the two teams played.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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