Pine Valley, NY -- The Elmira College field hockey team erased two one-goal deficits in the second half, but their third at scoring the equalizer came up just short as EC fell to visiting Hartwick College, 3-2.
Julie Hockenberger '18 made six saves in today's contest, including five in the second half.
Just over six minutes into the game, Hartwick used a long-ball to create a two-on-none situation with Hockenberger being EC's last line of defense. Hockenberger proved up to the task, making an important kick-save to turn away the Hartwick scoring opportunity. From that point on, however, Elmira's defense limited the Hawks' offensive chances while creating a number of opportunities for themselves.
The Purple and Gold seemed to take control of play for the rest of the first half but they could not capitalize on their numerous chances. EC was awarded three penalty corners in the first half and ended up with seven total shots, included three on goal. Unfortunately for EC, none of their shots found the back of the cage leading to a 0-0 tie at halftime.
Both offenses erupted in the second half with all five goals coming in the final 35 minutes of play. Hartwick got on the board first nearly eight minutes into the second half after Rebecca Reilly cleaned up a rebound to make it a 1-0 lead. Their one-goal advantage would be short-lived, however, as EC answered back less than three minutes later as the Soaring Eagles capitalized of one of their 10 second-half penalty corners.
Julia Derco '17 sent the pass across the face of the goal to
Kourtny Schwerdtman '15 who buried the shot into the back of the cage.
Hartwick retook the lead with Reilly's second goal of the game, again coming off of a rebound, with just under 18 minutes left to play. EC had several chances to immediately tie the game back up, but Hartwick's Yanna Boggio made a handful of saves keeping it a 2-1 game. The Purple and Gold would breakthrough though as
Katie Carroll '18 got in on the action.
Alli Gilbert '16 carried the ball down the left sideline and into the scoring zone. Gilbert fired a shot at the goal, but it was saved by Boggio. The rebound, however, caromed over to Carroll who cleaned up the mess and knotted the game up at two apiece.
It appeared that EC would finally take the lead as the Soaring Eagles were once again threatening to score with less than 10 minutes to play. After an initial shot was turned away by Boggio, the rebound was gathered and passed to Schwerdtman, who was standing in the middle of the circle. Schwerdtman had a good look at the goal, but was unable to get a clean shot off as Hartwick regained possession.
Play continued and with just over two minutes on the clock, the Hawks would strike again. Sarah Ryan would outrun the EC defense and fire a strong shot on net that just beat Hockenberger for the go-ahead goal. Elmira had back-to-back penalty corners as the clock approached one minute remaining with a chance to tie the game. Derco nearly scored the equalizer on a lofted shot on the first penalty corner, but Boggio made a leaping save to push the ball away. EC was unable to get another look at net as time expired with the score 3-2 in favor of the Hawks.
Elmira will look to bounce back on Tuesday, October 14th when they travel to Wilkes-Barre, PA to take on Wilkes University in a non-conference game. The game against the Colonels is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.
