Box Score Pine Valley, NY -- The Elmira College Field Hockey team used a three-goal second half to finish their comeback bid over Anna Maria College and secure their first victory of the year, 3-2. The win moves the Soaring Eagles to 1-3 on the year while the loss drops the Amcats to 3-4.

The first half was full of scoring chances for Elmira, as they outshot Anna Maria 9-6 while earning 14 penalty corners, but they could not get on the scoreboard. Anna Maria College was able to get a goal fifteen minutes into the game when Marybeth McClune slipped a shot past Elmira goalie, Lauren Thomas '14, after Thomas made a save off of the initial shot to give the Amcats a 1-0 lead. That score would hold into halftime.

The second half opened with Anna Maria a woman down due to a yellow card received at the end of the first half. Despite that disadvantage, the Amcats were able to score another goal just over a minute into the second half off of a corner set piece. Kayla Lapierre sent the ball towards the right side of the goal where she found her teammate Shannon Looney for the goal, giving Anna Maria a 2-0 lead and seemingly taking control of the game.

Backed by the support of their fan group and celebrating the first annual National Field Hockey Weekend, the Soaring Eagles kept attacking the goal trying to get back into the game. Just seven minutes later, they did just that. McKenna Light '14 carried the ball from midfield into the circle, making defenders miss left and right, to give herself a good shot on the goal. She was able to finish her run with a marker past the right side of the goalie to cut the Amcat lead to 2-1. Just four minutes later, the Purple and Gold struck again. Ashley Palmer '16 sent a pass toward the left post where she found her teammate Sarah Harden-Marshall '14 who finished the shot for the second goal of the half.

The momentum had swung heavily in favor of the Soaring Eagles and they weren't done scoring. With just about eight minutes left in the game, Palmer received a pass at the top of the circle and rifled a long shot that got past the goalie and rolled into the back of the goal, giving Elmira a 3-2 advantage. With just minutes left in the game, Anna Maria pressed to score, but Thomas and her backline held strong and sealed the victory.

Elmira outshot Anna Maria 21-11, with eight of those shots coming from Light and four coming off the stick of Palmer. Thomas made seven saves while Shannon Nelligan '14 and Kourtny Schwerdtman '15 each made a defensive save. Mary Kate Breen stopped 12 shots for the visitors.
 
The Field Hockey team will look to continue their success and pick up their first win in the Empire 8 play when they host Hartwick College Saturday, September 22, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center.