Saint Michael's College

COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College field hockey team closed its 2026 season with a 3-2 loss to Northeast 10 Conference foe American International College during Senior Day on Saturday at Duffy Field.
 
The Purple Knights honored Grace Nigolian (Burlington, Vt./Rice Memorial), Rebecca Wallace-West (South Hadley, Mass./Frontier Regional) and manager Emily Sullivan (Woburn, Mass.) on their Senior Day.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (3-14, 1-8 NE10), AIC (5-10, 3-6 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• First-year Kira DeBaggis (Mendon, Mass./Nipmuc Regional), 2 assists
• Junior Ruby Harrington (Barre, Vt./Spaulding), 1 goal
• Junior Ceara Murphy (Falls Church City, Va./Meridian), 1 goal (1st career)
• Sophomore Ronia Foecking (Antrim, N.H./ConVal Regional), 10 saves

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Mar Busqueta, 1 goal, 2 assists
• Graduate student Grace Boisvert, 1 goal, 1 assist
• First-year Martina Pereyro, 1 goal
• Junior Frederique den Hartog, 2 saves

GAME FACTS

• Foecking finished second in program history with 201 saves this fall.
• The contest was the 16th straight between the teams decided by two goals or less.

THE ACTION

• The Purple Knights broke the stalemate in the 20th minute, as Murphy got behind the back line of defense and one-touched a shot beyond a charging den Hartog from the edge of the circle after taking DeBaggis' pass down the seam.
• Busqueta tied the game 2:02 later, blasting a shot during a penalty corner sequence.
• Saint Michael's went back in front in the 34th minute, when DeBaggis' blast from the perimeter during a corner sequence was tipped in by Harrington out in front of den Hartog.
• AIC leveled the score 1:21 after, when Boisvert tapped in Busqueta's backdoor pass to the left post.
• In the waning seconds of regulation, Busqueta drove the end line before crossing to Pereyro, who cradled with a defender on her and Foecking on the ground and lifted a backhanded shot for the winner with 17 seconds to go.