The New Haven field hockey team saw their season come to an end on Friday night at Ralph F. Dellacamera Stadium, with their 3-2 loss to Pace University in double overtime. The Chargers fought back from an early 2-0 deficit to send the game to extra time but in the end, Pace came up with the goal to send them to the NE-10 conference championship. New Haven finished the 2022-2023 season with a record of 9-11 overall (8-5 NE-10) as their quest to a conference championship continues.

New Haven’s offense started off slow for this game, as they could not register a shot in the first quarter. Pace was given a penalty corner within the first minute of play but neither shot reached the net, with the first being blocked by New Haven and the other going wide of the net.

Neither team was able to generate much of any offense for the rest of the first quarter, with the only other scoring chance coming for Pace on another penalty corner taken by Krista Dietz but that was also blocked before reaching the net.

Pace was once again given another penalty corner early in the second quarter to keep the pressure on New Haven but the shot did not reach the net. New Haven’s first scoring opportunity came from the hero of the quarterfinal against Bentley, Erin Smith, but her shot went just wide of the net.

Pace responded accordingly with a goal scored by Dietz to give them a 1-0 lead within the first four minutes of the second quarter. The pressure was too much for New Haven to handle; the ball slipped right through their defense, giving Pace an easy goal to give themselves the lead. It was a quick turnaround for the Chargers, who were able to put pressure right back on the Setters with a shot by midfielder Johannah Lee but the shot was turned away by Pace goalkeeper Alina Buerger.

The second half did not start off well for the Chargers, as Pace struck again less than four minutes in with a goal scored by Tavia Flecksteiner to give them a two-goal lead. They kept the pressure up with another penalty corner taken by Frankie Fava but New Haven goalkeeper Keira Integlia kept their deficit at two with two big saves to keep her team in the game.

New Haven did not register a shot in the third period, setting up a crucial fourth quarter where if they did not score, their season would come to an end. Just two minutes into the fourth, the Chargers got on the board with a huge goal from forward Abby Nixon to cut the deficit to one. The goal was Nixon’s fourth of the year and it came at a huge time to spark the comeback. New Haven kept their foot on the gas pedal with another penalty corner taken by midfielder Sophia Ruh, but nothing came of the opportunity.

The Chargers struck again with eight minutes left in regulation to tie the game on forward Kat Trammell’s goal to tie the game at two. Trammell was able to tap the ball into the net after a shot from defender Taylor Geaglone, completing the comeback and igniting the crowd. The offensive chances did not stop for the Chargers, as Lee sent another shot to the net but it just went wide. Nixon would fire another shot to the net in the closing minutes but was turned away by Buerger to send the game into overtime.

The first overtime period was a back-and-forth offensive battle, with Pace outshooting New Haven six to four. The offensive opportunities kept coming for both teams but the defenses were able to shut them all down and keep the game in a tie.

The second overtime was dominated by Pace, who tallied three shots to New Haven’s zero. It had the looks of going into triple overtime but with just two and a half minutes left to play, Kate Demars put the ball past Integlia to win the game for Pace, sending them to the NE-10 conference championship.