Olden’s Double Sends Colby-Sawyer to the GNAC Final After a 3-2 Win Over Saint Joseph’s
Colby-Sawyer nearly let this one slip. Then Abby Olden settled it.
The top-seeded Chargers beat fourth-seeded Saint Joseph’s 3-2 in Wednesday’s GNAC semifinal in New London, New Hampshire, and they’ll play Saturday’s championship game. Olden scored both the opener, unassisted at 9:01, and the winner, off a penalty corner from Fredette at 48:28. In between, Saint Joseph’s produced the comeback of the night.
The Monks were 2-0 down at half-time and looked done. They weren’t. Ava Markham finished a Chloe Masse pass less than two minutes after the break, then Zoey Lailer levelled it at 36:40 off a Markham assist from a penalty corner. At 2-2, with the momentum fully flipped, it felt like Saint Joseph’s game. Olden had other ideas.
The numbers say Colby-Sawyer deserved it in the end. The Chargers outshot Saint Joseph’s 20-7, led 14-4 in shots on goal and 6-5 on penalty corners. But the Monks, 10-10 at the end, leave with their heads up. That’s a third straight GNAC semifinal appearance, and for the second year running it’s Colby-Sawyer who ended their run.
Saturday’s final opponent is still to be confirmed. Colby-Sawyer will face the winner of Wednesday night’s other semifinal between sixth-seeded Simmons and seventh-seeded Dean. Whoever comes through, they’ll be walking into a game against a 17-2 team that has now won 17 of 19. For our money, that’s a tall order for anyone.
