Field Hockey Rolls Past Rivier to Win First Playoff Game in Program History
- Anthony Matos
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Grant Field was the place to be on a breezy November afternoon where Dean College Women’s Field Hockey took on the Rivier Raiders. Dean won the GNAC regular season title with a 9-1 conference record and Rivier had snuck in as the number 8 seed with a 3-7 conference record.
Head coach Megan Gutierrez is wrapping up her 4th season with the team and has completely turned the program around. Last season she landed the Bulldogs their first playoff berth in program history as the number 8 seed after having 2 combined wins over her first two seasons.
Talking with Coach Gutierrez pregame about the Bulldogs mindset going into the game as the number one overall seed in the GNAC tournament, she said, “You’re fighting for everything, you’re fighting for your season but it’s just now who wants it more. They’re true underdogs no one really guessed that we would be here and we worked hard to prove that every single day.” In the preseason GNAC poll the Bulldogs were projected to finish 7th overall out of 11 teams. The Bulldogs were the first ever non-top two preseason team to win the regular season title in GNAC history. Truly the underdog mentality.
As for the game, between the pipes for Dean was sophomore Sara Gardner who is the primary goalie for the Bulldogs and has a .813 save percentage which is second in the GNAC. For the Raiders, it was senior Lily Gifford who went in with a .571 save percentage which was last in the GNAC.
After 5 minutes of nonstop open play in the first quarter, the Raiders got the first set piece of the game with a penalty corner. Ten seconds after play resumed, Rivier opened the scoring with Brianna Spinelli tapping in her 16th goal of the season which was assisted by Reilly Swislosky. Rivier scored 1 goal in their last meeting with Dean on October 11th in an 8-1 loss at home. The Bulldogs also had a great chance from a penalty corner by junior captain Shea Cassani but was blocked in front on the shot attempt by Sydnee Ramos. That would be all the action after one quarter with the score being 1-0 Rivier.
The second quarter started much better for the Bulldogs as just about a minute in, senior captain Sydnee Ramos had Dean’s best opportunity so far, but it was saved by Lily Gifford. It was the start of utter dominance as the Bulldogs were in the attacking half for most of the quarter. After Dean won a penalty corner, it was junior defenseman and captain Shea Cassani scoring a tap-in goal after Emma Gragen sent it from post to post. Then, just as the clock was going to hit 0:00, senior captain Sydnee Ramos sent a rocket stick-side on the goalie to make it 2-1 at half time. The Bulldogs had 5 shots to the Raiders lone 1 in the quarter.
The second half began with Sydnee Ramos drawing a whistle and resulting in a penalty shot 3 minutes in. Taking the shot was senior defenseman and captain Emma Mock sending the ball into the bottom left corner, just by the outstretched leg of Lily Gifford. Just a short time later, the Bulldogs had four shots on goal in a span of 24 seconds as the 4th shot finally got through by ways of Emily Yazzetti, after a costly turnover from a restart by the Raiders.
After taking possession down 3 goals, the Raiders looked to find any source of offense as they had been ice cold since their goal in the first quarter. That spark would come 2 minutes after Yazzetti scored, with Swislosky having a slow rolling shot find its way through traffic in front of Sara Gardner. After about 7 minutes of open play, yet another Raider turnover would turn out to be costly. The speedy Sydnee Ramos flew past the entirety of the Rivier back line, sneaking a goal short side on Lily Gifford with Emma Gragen picking up her third assist on the day.
A play that may be forgotten, however, is how the quarter ended. After the Ramos goal, the Raiders were looking for a quick response before the quarter ended. They won a penalty corner with just under 30 seconds to go, and Swislosky tried to get her 3rd goal of the game, but the excellent hand-eye coordination of Shea Cassani earned her a defensive save as Sara Gardner was fooled by a fake pass attempt. After 3, it was 5-2 Bulldogs. The best quarter by far for both sides as the shot totals were 5 to 6 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs would pick up right where they left off, earning yet another penalty shot drawn by Sydnee Ramos. Taking the shot would be Emily Yazzetti and scoring, almost identical to Mock earlier.
The Bulldogs would make a late goalie switch, substituting Sara Garner for Allie Stockwell. Stockwell would allow a goal on the only shot attempt she faced when Brianna Spinelli snuck it behind Stockwell after a Bulldog turnover. Both teams were very even in the final quarter matching shot totals and goal totals with 3 shots and 1 goal. Rivier had 4 corners and did not score on any of them, which became the difference maker as the Bulldogs cruised to a 6-3 win.
After the game, Coach Gutierrez talked about the vibe after getting Dean field hockey their first ever playoff win. With a huge smile on her face she said, “[The vibes] are very up and high, we still have a lot of work to do, not our prettiest game but with everything that was going against us we definitely came through and it was good to see that they are able to bounce back anytime you get scored on.”
It was also discussed whether the rough first quarter was due to the fact that they were in the playoffs or shaking off rust from what was a meaningless game, standings wise, versus Springfield College. Coach said it was a mix of both with a little bit of pregame nerves,
but the team knew what to expect and they can’t let it impact the team the way it did today moving forward.
Captains Sydnee Ramos and Shea Cassani also had thoughts after the game. When asked about Coach Gutierrez calling Ramos an ‘animal’ Sydnee said, “I think we all contribute as much as we can it’s not just me, it’s the whole team but this year specifically, I think I stepped up big, and it feels good to see the transition from last year.” This is Ramos’ 4th and final year on the team, riding with Coach Megan throughout her tenure. She also mentioned that she has been thinking about this win since she was a first-year and it is something she never thought would happen.
As for Cassani, she talked about what went well with the team today. It was the defense’s ability to mark their defenders and control the mid-line with all of the cutting that Rivier was doing. Cassani also emphasized how the program has changed from her freshman year, 3 seasons ago and looking back on it now, it is "so surreal being here". As for upcoming practices, her mentality, as well as the rest of the team's is to go in and play and to keep moving on.
Next up for the Bulldogs is the semi-finals of the GNAC tournament at home against the New England College Pilgrims at Grant Field with a 2 PM start time. The last meeting between these two teams was a double overtime 2-1 thriller at Grant Field with the Bulldogs coming out on top. You can catch the game over on deanbulldogs.com and find the boxcast.tv link.
