Hannah Bazarian - Photo Editor
In a battle of resilient offenses, the UR field hockey team more than held its own against a strong St. Lawrence University squad on Friday, Sept. 23 in Canton, N.Y. Despite a seemingly constant flow on the Yellowjackets’ part, St. Lawrence ultimately prevailed, 5-4, in a shootout. To break away from the Yellowjackets, however, the Saints had to dig deep into their reserves, as the visitors fought back from deficits of 1-0, 3-2, and 4-3 to keep the Saints on their toes throughout the game.
The Saints’ Emily Riley notched the first goal of the game 4:31 into the first period, but UR would have a response. Junior Shelby Hall passed the ball to freshman Megan Keil, who tied the game at 1-1, 14:07 in. Senior Allison Beardsley attempted to put the yellow and blue up just six minutes later, but had her shot blocked.
The ball, however, rebounded straight into the possession of junior Anna Dobrzynski, who snuck it behind St. Lawrence goalie Nicole Matos to put UR up, 2-1.
The lead didn’t last, however, as St. Lawrence mirrored UR’s efforts with two goals on UR sophomore goalie Madison Wagner before the end of the first half. Despite this rough span, Wagner was a solid presence throughout the game, making eight saves in the half and 17 in the game as a whole.
The Yellowjackets struck first to open the second half. Beardsley made a swift pass to Hall, who found an opening and fired to return the tally to a tie, 3-3, at 39:05. After St. Lawrence’s Ashley Ferenczy pushed her team ahead once again seven minutes later, Beardsley returned to assist on another game-tying goal — this one to Dobrzynski. Dobrzynski floated the ball over Matos’ head to even the tally at 4-4.
The rest of regulation was, comparatively, uneventful, as neither team scored despite several opportunities. In overtime, after an additional 30 minute of scoreless hockey, the game’s decision was moved to a shootout. In the tense minutes that followed, sophomore Lindsey Randall scored for the ‘Jackets, but Matos rejected efforts from Beardsley and Dobrzynski, limiting the UR damage to one goal. Wagner wasn’t quite as lucky, as Riley, Swits and Courtney Cartier all found the back of the Yellowjackets’ net, sealing the deal on the 5-4 UR loss.
With this defeat, coupled with the 7-0 loss the Yellowjackets suffered to nationally No. 5-ranked Skidmore College on Saturday, Sept. 24, UR falls to 6-3 and 0-2 in the Liberty League. The women hope to end their two-game skid when they take on SUNY Morrisville this Saturday, Oct. 1.
Bernstein is a member of the class of 2014.
