PINE VALLEY, N.Y. -- Saturday's Empire 8 Conference match between the Elmira College field hockey team and Utica College was a nail-biter, to say the least, as the Pioneers prevailed with a 2-1 win after edging the Soaring Eagles in a shootout at the Murray Athletic Center.

With the score tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, the Soaring Eagles (6-7, 0-4 E8) and Pioneers (6-8, 4-1 E8) played through 20 minutes of scoreless seven-on-seven overtime. The following best-of-five shootout also needed extra strokes to decide a winner after each team finished made a pair of makes in the first round. EC's sixth stroke, taken by Kelsie Aloi '21, did not produce a goal. Utica's Sabrina Whitehouse buried her next attempt to seal the victory.

The upset-minded Soaring Eagles started off strong, scoring the game's first goal in the sixth minute. A long through ball hit by Janie Kempf '21 made its way into the arc towards Kylie Rosen '23, who was stationed in front of the cage. Rosen was able to redirect the ball past Utica goalkeeper Megan Chamberlain to put the Purple and Gold ahead by one, a lead that would last until the third quarter.

The Pioneers raced out of the gates to start the second half and recorded a trio of penalty corners in the first one-and-a-half minutes. On the third penalty corner of the quarter, Ricki Haab tipped a shot towards the cage from her position along the left post, but it was cleared out of traffic by the Elmira defense. However, the ball went directly towards Sydney Scaccia near the top of the arc, who quickly returned it into the back of the cage to level the score at 1-all.

Fourth-year goalie Tina O'Donnell '20, who logged 15 saves for the Soaring Eagles, stood on her head in the remaining minutes of regulation and the two overtime periods, despite Utica outshooting EC by a 26-to-6 margin.

News and Notes

• Elmira is now 6-7 overall and 0-4 against E8 opposition.
• Saturday's game was the seventh of the 2019 campaign to be decided by a single goal.
• The Soaring Eagles played to a shootout for the first time since beating Keuka at home on October 16, 2018.
• Rosen's goal marked the third of her freshman season.
• Kempf moved into a tie with Emily Selbert '20 for first on the team by posting her third assist of the year.
• Liz Shephard '21 was credited with her third career defensive save.
• O'Donnell, the Division III leader in save percentage, increased that figure to .910 after making 15 stops against Utica.
• O'Donnell (436) surpassed Julie Hockenberger '18 (433) for fourth-place all-time in program history in career saves.

Up Next
On Wednesday, October 23, Elmira's homestand continues with an Empire 8 tilt against the Cardinals of St. John Fisher College at 3:30 p.m.