Millersville, Pa. - There is always excitement in the air on the first day of any season, but for the No. 3 Millersville field hockey team this opening day was even more pressure-packed than usual. The Marauders took on the No. 5 Stonehill Skyhawks at home on Saturday in what was expected to be a showdown. Millersville had other plans; scoring the first three goals to open up the season with a 3-1 victory over a challenging opponent amidst a steady rainfall at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium.

It was a full team effort as three different players scored to propel Millersville to 1-0 on the year. Impactful contributions were made from both familiar Marauders and new players as Millersville won its opening game for the eighth straight season.

It didn't take long for Alexis Gazzio to make her presence felt. Gazzio, who transferred to Millersville this year from Division I powerhouse and 2016 national champion Delaware, got off to a great start as a Marauder, scoring merely 11 minutes into the game to give Millersville a 1-0 at the time.

In the second half, Millersville came out looking to attack. Within the first six minutes of the half Millersville put up four shots on goal; two found the back of the net.
The second goal of the game (first of the half) came from Kyra Brakefield. Her first shot was saved by a diving effort by Stonehill goalkeeper Sara Freedman. As Freeman tried to recover from her save, Brakefield regained possession of the ball and flipped it into the far right corner, over the Stonehill goalie who was still on the ground from the previous save.

Less than five minutes later, Aliza Mizak got in on the action. Mizak found herself in the corner with the ball, and somehow finagled her way through the defense to get herself in scoring position. As she has done 18 times before in her career, Mizak sent the ball past the goalie for her first goal of the season. With that goal, Mizak has now tallied four goals in "opening day" games in the past two years.

The Marauders totaled 17 shots and had eight shots on goal, but Stonehill had their share of chances too.

Stonehill attempted 10 shots, putting seven on goal. Kylee Bair was a reliable goalkeeper for Millersville, allowing only one goal, which came late in the second half. Stonehill's Kacie Smith almost seemed destined to score a goal eventually. With 11:05 left to play, Smith finally scored after harassing Bair with shots sporadically throughout the game. Smith amassed seven shots in the game with five of them on being on target.   

Millersville has now outscored opponents on opening day 34-4 since 2010. The win over a top five nationally ranked team is important for the Marauders, however, it is just the first test in a season jam-packed with strong opponents.

A road matchup with No. 1 Shippensburg awaits in 10 days but first the Marauders await Mercyhurst which comes to Millersville next Saturday for another 12 p.m. matchup.