Game Highlights

GLASSBORO, NJ – Vanessa DiDonato tied two school records by scoring five goals to lead top-seeded Rowan to a 6-0 win over fourth-seeded Stockton in the semifinals of the 2023 NJAC Field Hockey Championship. The 17th-ranked Profs (10-7) will host the conference final on Saturday at noon, facing the second seed, #22 TCNJ. Rowan will be seeking its third straight conference title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
 
DiDonato, a junior, tied the Rowan record for goals in a game and for points in a game (10), matching the mark set by Lauren Ross in 2010 with a five-goal game vs. Stevenson. It marked the fourth time in DiDonato's career that she has notched three or more goals in a contest, while she now has a team-high 17 goals on the year.
 
Julia Cavicchio started the scoring for Rowan with under eight minutes to play in the second quarter. The junior received the entry pass on the corner, dribbled into the circle and blasted it into the left corner of the cage from 13 yards out for her seventh goal of the year.
 
DiDonato would then score four in row, starting just two minutes after Cavicchio's tally. Amber Powell sent a free hit from the sideline to DiDonato at the 20-yard line, and the junior dribbled through the defense and slipped it past the goalie from less than five yards out.
 
With no time remaining in the half, Rowan was awarded a penalty stroke that DiDonato converted, with a flick to the upper left corner of the cage.
 
DiDonato completed a hat trick in the third quarter as she picked up a loose ball in the circle, dribbled to her right and flicked it in from less than 10 yards away.
 
She was successful on another penalty stroke at 41:33, placing it again in the upper left corner of the cage and finished out her record-setting performance with an unassisted goal in the final two minutes.
 
The Profs outshot Stockton (15-5) by a 22-3 margin and Rowan goalie Mariah Juiliano made three saves to record her second straight shutout.
 
Rowan and TCNJ will be meeting in the final for the second year in a row, as the Profs captured last year's title with a 1-0 victory at home.