Field Hockey | 11/13/2019 7:51:00 PM
LANCASTER, PA – In their first NCAA Tournament game since 2004, the Hartwick field hockey team fell to the No. 6 Franklin & Marshall Diplomats in the First Round Wednesday evening, losing 4-1 on F&M's Tylus Field. The Hawks, who won the Empire 8 Championship for the first time since 2005, finish their season at 13-7, tying the 2009 and 2016 teams for the most wins since that 2004 team. Franklin & Marshall, now 17-3 on the year, moves on to the Second Round of the Tournament, where they will face No. 1 The College of New Jersey on Saturday, November 16.
The Diplomats started their pressure early, spending the first few minutes in the Hartwick zone before Erin Coverdale's shot was blocked out wide. They earned their first corner 5:06 into the game, resulting in a shot from Ellie Page that was blocked and another from Coverdale that went wide. A Franklin & Marshall green card resulted in some Hartwick offensive pressure, but a subsequent green card for the Hawks evened up the sides and brought the ball back into the Hartwick defensive end. The Diplomats had two great chances in the final two minutes, but goalkeeper Allyson Osborne (Nottingham, PA/Solanco) made kick saves on both tries, keeping the game scoreless after one.
F&M nearly converted in the 18th minute, when Coverdale's shot was blocked up into the air and towards the net, but it went past the left post and out of play. A dizzying sequence began a few minutes later, when the Diplomats earned six consecutive corners. They did not score off of any of them, thanks in part to a blocked shot by Brooke Singer (Johnson City, NY/Maine-Endwell) and multiple gorgeous saves from Osborne. Just as it looked as the Hawks might escape the half without conceding a goal, the Diplomats struck twice in the final three minutes. The first came thanks in large part to Caitlin Morrissey, who intercepted a Hartwick pass and then found Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year Lily Mynott for a shot that clipped Osborne's pads and entered the net at 27:31. Coverdale got the next tally, as Mynott maneuvered around a Hawk defender and sent it through to her for the shot and score at 28:53. At the half, F&M held a 2-0 lead as well as a 23-0 shot advantage.
The Diplomats extended their lead to three on the first shot of the third. Off a penalty corner in the second minute, the ball came to Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Year Melissa Gula on the left side of the circle, who fired and had her shot tipped into the net by Mynott. Hartwick brought some more pressure in the 36th minute, leading to their first corner of the game. Singer got the ball at the point and fired the Hawks' first shot of the night, blocked towards the right side of the circle, where Katie Meuse (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) shot but was stopped by F&M keeper Christina Seery. Osborne would stop F&M twice more before the period ended.
Osborne stood on her head again to begin the fourth, making three saves in the first two minutes, including an excellent two in quick succession on Coverdale and Mynott. The Hawks sent the ball back the other way soon after, and after some pressure earned another corner. Down a man thanks to a yellow card on Singer, the ball came to Tegan Robinson (Mechanicville, NY/Shenendehowa) at the point, who dropped it off for Sydney Gagnon (Chestertown, NY/North Warren Central). Gagnon then pushed it to Allyson Quirk (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) on the left side of the circle, and Quirk fired a shot at the net that was tipped in by Leah Tolley (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon), making it 3-1 at 48:54. The two-goal separation did not last long, as Coverdale got her second of the game in the 51st minute via a short cross by Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year Darby Klopp. The tally was the 54th of Coverdale's career, setting a new program record. Each team had more chances before the final buzzer sounded, including one for F&M that required a defensive save from Maggie Stauble (Kingston, NY/Kingston).
Meuse, Tolley, Singer, and Bella Wheeler (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia) each had a shot for Hartwick, with Quirk assisting on Tolley's goal. Osborne was unreal all night, making a career-high 21 saves. She ends the season with a 1.37 goals allowed average and a .833 save percentage.
Coverdale peppered the Hartwick defense all night, sending in 20 shots, as well as 12 on goal and two in-goal. Mynott also had double-digits in shots, with 10 (eight on-goal) to go with her two tallies and one assist. Gula had five shots from the back line, as well as her assist. Seery played the first 58:30 in net, making two saves on three chances, with Sydney Lippe playing the final 90 seconds.
F&M ended up with a 43-4 shot advantage, including 26-3 on goal. They also had a substantial lead in corners, at 19-2.
The Hawks will regroup this offseason and come back ready to go next fall, when they will try to defend their Empire 8 Championship.