LOUISVILLE, Ky.—It was quite the season debut for the Bellarmine field hockey team and freshman Paige Hoyer as the Knights broke open a 0-0 halftime tie with three second half goals to defeat the Saint Louis Billikens 3-1 in both teams' season openers on Friday at Trager Field.
 
"I am really proud of our group, not only for our performance today, but for all the hard work and preparation they put in the spring and summer to be ready for this moment," said Bellarmine Coach Devanny Boisvert. "I was also happy with our adjustments at halftime which allowed Kailey (goalkeeper Kailey Workman) to not feel as much pressure in the second half. Kailey held our team together in the first half — she had some nice saves and good decision making on some of their breakaways."
 
Bellarmine's offensive star was Hoyer, who turned in an impressive collegiate debut by contributing on all three goals for Bellarmine, notching two scores and an assist. 
 
Teresa Schmidt made a triumphant return to the field hockey pitch after missing most of last season with an injury.  The fifth year player now pursuing a graduate degree got the game's scoring started about two and a half minutes into the second half when she got free on a breakaway and converted a feed from Hoyer.  
 
Junior Bente Moormann collected the team's other point by supplying a great pass from well beyond the circle into Hoyer, who corralled the ball and fired into the goal for Bellarmine's final score of the game.
 
In addition to the defensive adjustments the team made at halftime, Boisvert also lauded the work of her front line. "Our forwards are really starting to piece together their movement which allowed us to be threatening in the attack end of the field," she said. "It felt good scoring on field goals and breakaways rather than relying on corners, like we did last year. Paige had a fabulous first official collegiate game; we love the energy and focus she is bringing to our team."
 
Boisvert was equally pleased with the midfield defensive corps.  "Our midfielders were tough as nails today," she said. "They were poised with the ball and had a big presence defensively, and our defensive unit focused on intercepting the ball and generating the attack. Overall, I'm very happy with our first win of the season. We now have to refocus our energy to get ready for Northeastern."
 
A look into the statistics show that while Bellarmine won "the war," Saint Louis put up quite the battle.   In fact, the Billikens were the aggressors for the first two quarters and finished with an 8-5 advantage in penalty corners. The Knights' strong second half allowed the hosts to take an 11-10 edge in shots, and Workman's four saves were one better than a pair of saves by SLU's Kerri O'Donnell and a last-second defensive save by Cameron Tucker.

Bellarmine returns to action on Sunday when they play Northeastern at noon in Trager Stadium.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @BUKnights, Instagram at BUKnights, and Facebook at BUKnights.
.