ONEONTA, NY - Hartwick College women's soccer scored twice in the final 12 and a half minutes of regulation to force overtime, but St. John Fisher came away with the game-winner 1:52 into the second overtime period to escape Elmore with the 3-2 victory.
Megan Gee got the winning marker with her second tally of the day. She smacked a shot from the top of the 18-yard box that went up and over 'Wick keeper Kelly Griffin (Wynantskill, NY/Columbia) to give Fisher a 2-1 mark in the Empire 8. Hartwick slips to 2-4 and 1-1 in conference play.
Gee's game-winner negated a valiant comeback by the Hawks in the late stages of the second half. With the Hawks trailing by a 2-0 margin, senior forward Lauren Ploof (Hammond, Ny/Hammond) scored in the 78th minute off a rebound to give the Hawks hope. With less than four minute to go, Ploof tied the match as she broke in alone with Fisher keeper Ashley Martin and calmly converted her shot for a 2-2 deadlock.
Neither the Hawks nor the Cardinals managed a shot in the first 10-minute sudden-victory overtime session and Gee scored on Fisher's first effort in the second extra period for the win.
Fisher got on the scoreboard first in the 14th minute as Sarah Bihl scored from an Amanda Siebert assist. Bihl received the ball from Siebert and tucked her shot into the bottom left corner for a 1-0 Cardinal lead. Just 3:53 into the second half of play, Fisher extended its lead to two goals as Gee scored off a rebound.
Neither team was able to muster another goal for close to 30 minutes until Ploof began the 'Wick surge late in the match.
Hartwick ended the game with a 12-9 advantage in shots and a 6-1 edge in corner kicks for the match. The Hawks took nine shots to the Cardinals' three in the second half alone.
Griffin made one save in the last 57 minutes of the contest. Alyssa Rondo (Saco, ME/Thornton Academy) started the match in the Hartwick goal playing the first half. She made one save. Martin stopped five Hartwick shots in the game.
Hartwick hits the road to play Hamilton College on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Next Saturday the Hawks get back to Empire 8 play with a road match at RIT.
