W&J Defeats Naz; Utica Upsets #3 Skidmore
W&J 3, NAZARETH 1
Sophomore
Lauren Brown scored two goals to lead the Washington & Jefferson field hockey team to a 3-1 Empire 8 conference win at Nazareth.
The win keeps the Presidents unblemished in the E8 at 2-0 while improving to 6-2 overall. The Golden Flyers fall to 5-4 on the season and 1-1 in the league.
Brown started the scoring just 2:48 into the game with her seventh goal of the season.
The goal stood up as a 1-0 lead for W&J until 9:30 into the second half when Nazareth's Maggie Muzio scored off an assist by teammate Catherine Willard.
Brown answered back and put the Presidents ahead for good at the 53:47-mark of the game off an assist by
Amanda Steffey. In the 64th minute,
Catherine Beaudoin added an insurance goal on a penalty stroke to ice the game and send W&J to the 3-1 win.
The hosts held a slim, 13-12, lead on shots. Brown led W&J with four shots, with Steffey adding three and Beaudoin and
Gina Taglieri posting two each.
Morgan Brozena upped her season record to 3-1 with six saves in the victory.
UTICA 4, Skidmore 1
The Utica College field hockey team used three first half goals to knock off nationally ranked No. 3 Skidmore College Sunday afternoon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. Junior
Colleen Dowling led the Pioneers with four points on the day.
The win marked the highest ranked opponent that UC has ever defeated and the first time the Pioneers have beaten a team ranked in the top five in the country. This is also the first win over a ranked opponent since Utica defeated No. 11 Skidmore, 2-1 on Oct. 10, 2012.
Utica improves to 6-1 on the season, while Skidmore falls to 6-1. The Pioneers are now 4-0 at home this season, and have outscored opponents 21-3 on their home turf.
UC jumped out to a quick lead as senior
Hannah Mackey scored her conference-leading 13th goal of the season, just 3:46 into the contest, assisted by Dowling. Mackey now has five goals and one assist in her last three games.
The Thoroughbreds evened the score at 19:49 as Melanie Webb tallied her sixth goal of the year, assisted by the nation's leading scorer, Dani DeGregory. The goal snapped Utica's shutout streak, which lasted exactly 174 minutes.
Utica regained the lead at 23:48 as senior
Chasity Eckert tipped in a long shot from
Alaina Stojkovski for her fourth of the season. Two minutes later, the Pioneers converted on a penalty corner to take a 3-1 lead. Freshman
Melissa Koch collected Dowling's rebound and lifted a backhand over Skidmore's net minder, Amy Beck, for her first collegiate goal.
Despite being outshot 11-7 in the second half, the Pioneers were able to hold on for the victory. Dowling capped off the scoring at 52:56 with her second of the season to all-but seal the win.
Utica outshot Skidmore 18-15, while the Thoroughbreds held an 11-8 advantage in penalty corners. Junior
Kells Casey made a season-high ten saves for her 32nd career win. She is just one shy on tying Jenny Lounsbury for most all-time at UC. Beck also had ten saves in the loss.