NEW HAVEN, Conn. (October 13, 2023) – It was an important day for Sacred Heart field hockey on Sunday at Johnson Field. As part of their annual pink game, promoting breast cancer awareness, the Pios held a pregame ceremony to support Marisa VanHorn – mother of midfielder Mikayla VanHorn (Old Bridge, N.J.) – in her battle against breast cancer. SHU showed some resiliency of its own on the pitch, as Madelyn Kidd (Hillsborough, N.J.) forced overtime with a highlight-reel goal in the 59^th minute. Ultimately though, it was visiting Dartmouth which prevailed with a 3-2 victory after a shootout win.
 
Nearly the entire first half went scoreless, but Dartmouth (5-7) was able to get on the board with just 2:49 remaining until halftime. Off a restart on the right side, Olivia Galiotos fed into the middle for Lucia Campano, who gained the top of the circle. From there, she reversed her stick and tucked a long shot inside the right post for her fifth of the season.
 
SHU (3-10) notched its first equalizer of the day late in the third quarter, in the 44^th minute. The corner play was straightforward, as Blaire Sparks (Medford, N.J.) inserted on the left side to Emma Brayford (Breiningsville, Pa.). The latter stepped inside the circle and drove a laser inside the left post, which cleanly beat Dartmouth keeper Ava Carlson, for her first goal since August of 2022.
 
Dartmouth struck in the 56^th minute for an apparent game-winner, with just 4:41 to play. Campano did the heavy lifting with a long carry down the end line on the left side and snuck a pass through to Riley Durnigan, who knocked her third of the campaign into the cage from short range.
 
The Pios refused to go quietly though. Kidd was able to force overtime with a strong individual effort off a restart on the right side. She split a pair of defenders on the way into the circle, then deked around another to the left. The third defender got her stick to the ball as she went by, but Kidd made the best of a bouncing ball near the penalty spot, as she volleyed it over the head of Carlson and into the goal to level the game at 2-2 with her fourth of the year, with just 1:57 remaining in regulation.
 
Dartmouth controlled the run of play throughout the two overtime sessions, to the tune of a 10-1 advantage in shot attempts. Brianna Cooper (Watertown, Mass.) – making her first collegiate start – was equal to the task though, as she turned aside all four shots on her goal in overtime to send things to the shootout.
 
Things stayed even in the shootout too, with each team converting twice through the initial five rounds. The sixth round would be the decider, as Galiotos beat Cooper cleanly with a shot from the top of the circle. Isabelle Chamberlain (North Yorkshire, United Kingdom) took the ball for SHU and tried a similar move to one which had worked for her third round, but this time she lost the handle and Dartmouth came away with a 3-2 victory in both the shootout and the game.
 
Cooper (0-1) had seven saves against nine shots and suffered the loss in the SHU net. Carlson (5-6) collected three saves against five shots for Dartmouth.
 
The Pios wrap up their home schedule with a pair of Northeast Conference games at Johnson Field in the coming week. Senior Day is set for Friday, Oct. 20, when SHU hosts Stonehill at 5 p.m. Youth Day follows on Sunday, Oct. 22, when the Pios welcome Merrimack for a 4 p.m. start.