With the phenomenal performance seen by the University of New England’s Women’s Field Hockey team against Western New England on Saturday, Oct. 11-–the Nor’Easters took a 4–1 win over the Golden Bears, continuing their winning streak.

The peak of the matchup was the last quarter when the Nor’Easters’ forward starter Riley Zielinski clashed with the opposing team’s goalie to get the ball in the net. Although UNE had already taken the lead, the crowd was on the edge of their seats during this intense moment with only two minutes left in the game; the ball shot up from the 1v1 brawl, rolling slowly into the net. The crowd went wild as they realized they now had the game in the bag.

The Nor’Easters’ consistent ball control and efficient teamwork left the Golden Bears struggling to keep up—with no chance to catch their breath. By the looks of it, the determined Nor’Easters seem to have found the key to what it takes to bring home a win.

Defensive starter Shelly Tremblay reflected on what worked well for them, “I think we just really focused on our communication piece. Knowing where everybody is, marking the people that need to be marked, bumping to the most valuable players so we can defend them properly.”  From the opening quarter, the Golden Bears didn’t stand a chance against the Nor’Easters. Though UNE didn’t score during this quarter, the defense they brought to the table was immaculate throughout the entire game and had theGolden Bears struggling to maintain the ball in their possession.

In quarter two, things started to really click with the Nor’Easters once Tremblay passed to forward starter Kate Kelso who would then score the first goal of the game. Shortly after this, midfield starter Abby Stevens scored the second goal of the game alone due to her incredible drive to the net. With another assist, Tremblay set up midfield starter Micaela Jacobs for the team’s third goal. Both teams were able to have a penalty free matchup up until the singular penalty called on behalf of the Golden Bear’s Jenna Nigro, receiving a minor offensive warning and two-minute temporary suspension.

Defensive starter Gianna Korisianos emphasized the strong defense the Nor’Easters put into the game, “I think that our defense to mid connection was really good today and our mid to forwards connection—just making connections all around.” Midfield starter Francesca Caccamo added on, “Yeah, I think playing as a team, too–I think we did that very well, especially in the last two halves.”

The Nor’Easters had maintained great defense until the remaining two minutes of third quarter when WNE’s Mackenna Cooke was able to slip in their first and only goal of the game. “We definitely did a team-oriented win today, which is what we’ve been really focusing on. Really trying to connect our passes with one another and really just supporting each other both on and off the field,” said head coach Danielle Collins.

In the following game: UNE’s winning streak was put to an end by Bates College. Their next matchup will be against Gordon College, Wednesday, Oct. 18, on their turf.