McPike, Faubel lead Field Hockey in conference-opening win

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Field Hockey team opened conference season with a 5-3 win at Transylvania Saturday morning. The Falcons were aided by a Megan McPike hat trick, along with an impressive debut goalie performance from Karissa Faubel in the two-goal win.

THE BASICS
- Final Score: Concordia Wisconsin 5, Transylvania 3
- Location: Pat Deacon Stadium – Lexington, Kentucky
- Records: CUW 4-1, 1-0 SAA; Transylvania 1-5, 0-1 SAA

HOW IT HAPPENED
- McPike (Mequon, Wis.) has been an offensive force for the Falcons early on in her career and Saturday was no different. The freshmen collected her second hat trick of the season, two of those coming in the opening half. She has eight goals in five games this season, and also had a goal in an exhibition last week at Bellarmine.

- Despite McPike's continued success, the story of the day may be Faubel (Menasha, Wis.), who was making her first career start at goalie. Faubel, a defender by trade, was forced into the goalkeeping position and responded with a nine-save performance. In the opening half, Faubel made five saves and nearly shut the Pioneers out in the opening half, only allowing a goal with just over three minutes left.

- CUW led 5-1 in the contest before two late Transylvania goals. Also scoring for the Falcons in the win was Sam Dunn (Sussex, Wis.) and Kelsey Fulton (Sussex, Wis.).

- CUW outshot the Pioneers, 18-14. Allyson Benz of Transylvania stopped eight shots.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- It seems safe to assume that McPike will rewrite the Falcons single-season record books in 2018. Fulton owns the top two scoring seasons for CUW (a third-year program) with 10 and nine goals over the last two years, respectively. McPike has eight with several games to play.

- The Falcons opened SAA play with a win after going 2-4 in conference play last season. The Falcons first-ever SAA win was a 1-0 victory at Transylvania last season (October 15).

UP NEXT
- The Falcons will take on Centre in another conference matchup tomorrow. The game is set for an 11 a.m. eastern start.