Utica Lone Winner Wednesday Night
UTICA 8, Hamilton 2
The Utica College field hockey team used five first half goals to down cross town rival, Hamilton College, 8-2 Wednesday evening. Six players scored multiple points on the night and junior
Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) set a new program record for wins in a career.
The Pioneers improve to 8-1 on the year and hold a 3-0 ledger over Hamilton in their last three meetings.
Seniors
Chasity Eckert (Afton, NY/Afton Central) and
Hannah Mackey (Locke, NY/Moravia Central) and junior
Colleen Dowling (Fairport, NY/Fairport) each had two goals, while Mackey also added three assists. Senior
Nikki Kieffer (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) chipped in with a career-high four assists, while classmate
Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) tallied three points on one goal and one assist.
Alaina Stojkovski (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) also netted one goal for the Pioneers.
Utica jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first 3:46 behind goals from Dowling and Steele-Norton. UC did not let up as the Pioneers added three more goals off the sticks of Mackey, Dowling and Stojkovski before the end of the half.
Hamilton was able to get two back in the second half, but Mackey netted her second of the game and Eckert tallied the final two goals to all but seal the victory for the Pioneers. Casey made five saves to collect her seventh win of the season and program-best 34th win of her career.
Utica out shot the visitors 25-10 and held a 15-10 advantage in penalty corners. Victoria Trentini made 13 saves as Hamilton fell to 5-3 on the season.
Juniata 2, W&J 1
The Presidents had an early goal waived off in the early portion of the first half that proved to be the difference in a 2-1 loss to Juniata.
With the non-conference loss, the Washington & Jefferson field hockey team drops to 7-3 on the the season. Juniata improves to 7-2.
The W&J goal that was called off came on a re-direct by
Amanda Steffey off a long drive from outside of the arc by
Gina Taglieri in the very early stages of the game. After initially signaling a good goal, just before the play resumed the officials conferred and waived the goal off.
The Eagles eventually scored 21:29 into the game to take a 1-0 lead. However, 1:49 later
Catherine Beaudoin tied the game with the assist credited to Taglieri, 1-1.
With just 2:16 left in the first half, Juniata's Sarah Bilheimer weaved through the W&J defense and scored just inside the near post for the eventual game-winner.
The guests held a 16-6 advantage on shots behind a 9-2 margin in the second half. Steffey recorded three of W&J's shots.
Morgan Brozena (3-2) suffered the loss in goal despite making 10 saves in 70 minutes.
Rochester 5, ST. JOHN FISHER 2
In a game that was much closer than the score indicated, the 12th-ranked University of Rochester field hockey team emerged with a 5-2 victory over visiting St. John Fisher College on Wednesday night at Rochester's Fauver Stadium.
The win pushes Rochester' record to 11-0, while the Cardinals drop to 6-3, snapping a four-game winning streak. Both programs are off to the best start in their respective histories.
Rochester scored off a penalty corner less than three minutes into the game and it stayed 1-0 after the opening period.
The Cardinals started off the second half with a strong start, getting a great chance from freshman
Emily Markarian's breakaway, but her shot trickled just wide of the cage.
On the ensuing Yellowjacket possession, Rochester upped the lead to 2-0.
In the 44th minute, the Cardinals did cut the lead in half, making it 2-1 behind a goal from
Alexis Zakala. The senior slapped in a shot from eight yards in the center of the circle off a penalty corner pass from classmate
Stacie Skidmore.
Rochester got that goal back though at 51:34, scoring on a shot into the upper right corner.
The Cardinals, fighting to get back in the game, then had back-to-back chances from Markarian and
Elizabeth Cusack saved away in 61st minute. After another Rochester goal, Fisher responded with a goal from Cusack - her team-leading ninth the year - with just under six minutes to go, making it 4-2.
The Yellowjackets, who held a slight 16-14 edge in shots, added an insurance goal in the closing seconds to seal Fisher's fate. Rochester also held a slim 11-9 advantage in penalty corners.
Goalie
Danielle Famolaro stopped seven shots for the Cardinals.
William Smith 5, ITHACA 2
The Ithaca College field hockey team lost a close game to William Smith Wednesday evening, falling to the Herons by a score of 5-2 at McCooey Field. The Bombers are now 4-5 on the season. William Smith sits at 7-3.
Sophomores
Cassie Schuttrumpf and
Colleen Keegan-Twombly scored Ithaca's goals, while sophomore goalkeeper
Katie Lass made 11 saves on 16 Heron shots.
William Smith started the game hot, as the Herons scored twice in the opening half. William Smith's goals at 7:23 and 28:39 marked the only scores of the opening frame, sending the game to the break at 2-0. The Herons continued to roll in the second, scoring goals at 51:52 and 56:54 to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
Ithaca responded quickly, scoring a goal in the 59th minute to cut into the Heron lead. Schuttrumpf converted on a feed from freshman
Amanda Schell in front, putting the game at 4-1. Schuttrumpf's goal marked her first of the season, while Schell's assist marked her first collegiate point.
Not long after, Keegan-Twombly collected her own rebound and beat the Heron goalkeeper in the 62nd minute for her third goal of 2014.
Despite Ithaca's momentum, William Smith was able to add an insurance goal at 65:02. Ithaca was unable to score again, giving William Smith the 5-2 win.
Montclair 5, STEVENS 1
No. 11 Montclair State University downed Stevens Institute of Technology by a score of 5-1 Wednesday night in a non-conference field hockey game at the De Baun Athletic Complex.
With the win, MSU improves to 8-2. The loss drops to the Ducks to 4-7, and they will look to get back in the win column when they host Empire 8 rival Hartwick College Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the De Baun Athletic Complex.
Montclair State was able to score three goals over a span of 4:30 early in the first half to open a 3-0 margin with 21:26 left in the period. Junior Maura Johnston and sophomore Gianna Moglino had three points in the early going for Montclair.
Stevens was able to tighten its defense, allowing just one more tally before the half and two total for the game as the defense and goalie Emily Stukenborg were solid over the final 55-plus minutes. Stukenborg finished the contest with 14 saves.
Freshman Kaitlyn Struss tallied the final Red Hawk marker of the game 2:07 into the second half, and the two sides played scoreless hockey for the next 32:50.
Despite the large deficit, the Ducks continued to fight on both sides of the field, generating stronger and stronger chances as the game wore on. After several quality bids, junior Erin Silvestri nearly recorded her fifth goal of the season after receiving a penalty-corner-insert from junior Dailyn Brook but her shot clanged off the post.
Stevens was able to get on the board with just 10 seconds on the clock, when senior forward Jillian Fiebel carried into the circle and hit freshman Victoria Alvarez with a perfect cross in front for the score. The assist was the first of the year for Fiebel with the goal counting as No. 9 for Alvarez.
In addition to the point scorers and Stukenborg, Stevens received defensive denials from freshmen Alana Best and Marley Brackelmanns-Puig.
MSU ended the game with a 31-7 margin in shots, but the Ducks finished with a 6-5 edge.