ONEONTA, NY – It took extra penalty strokes to determine a winner in Wednesday's rainy contest between SUNY Cortland and the Hartwick field hockey team, with the Red Dragons eventually scoring in the top of the sixth frame and stopping the Hawks in the bottom to win, 3-2. The win moves Cortland to 11-3, while 'Wick drops to 8-5 on the year.
The two teams played a scoreless and relatively uneventful first quarter, as Hartwick had the better of play overall. Leah Tolley (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) had the first shot, deflecting a Brooke Singer (Johnson City, NY/Maine-Endwell) hit off a corner into Cortland keeper Marisa D'Amico. It looked like the Hawks had broken through in the 10th minute on a Sydney Gagnon (Chestertown, NY/North Warren Central) tally, but it was called off for a dangerous shot as she deflected a shoulder height ball into the cage.
Cortland got their first significant chance a little under five minutes into the second when they had a breakaway, but Hartwick goalie Allyson Osborne (Nottingham, PA/Solanco) raced out to kick the ball away before a Red Dragon could catch up to it. Gagnon broke through with an excellent individual effort in the 23rd minute. She stole the ball from a Red Dragon at around the top of the circle and fired one up high on D'Amico that she knocked down right to Gagnon's stick, who slid it underneath the keeper for the first goal of the day at 22:15. Osborne kept 'Wick ahead with a little over one minute to go in the half, making a spectacular save on Hannah Burchell off a corner. 'Wick led 1-0 at the half, with a comfortable 7-2 shot advantage.
The Red Dragons came out on fire to begin the third quarter, putting constant pressure on the Hartwick back line. Osborne made another superb save in the 35th minute, deflecting a shot with her pad to the right of the cage. She made a couple other nifty saves to preserve the lead before Cortland tied the game in the 44th minute. Allie Bianchi took a penalty corner and sent the ball straight to Hannah Burchell, who shot it off the inside of the right post and into the back of the cage to knot the game at one. The Hawks made a desperate attempt to regain the lead in the dying seconds of the quarter, when Katie Meuse (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) deflected a long hit that D'Amico saved with a second to go.
Cortland continued their possession dominance to start the final regulation period, earning a couple corners and converting on the second. Burchell had her initial shot saved, but the ball ended up on the stick of Molly Quinlan who sent one to Lily Fox standing at the right side of the net for the deflection goal in the 47th minute. Hartwick stayed with it, however. Gagnon had a shot saved by a lunging D'Amico under two minutes later, and the Hawks earned a corner at 49:46. Singer did what she does so well from there, receiving Rebecca Peakes' (West Chester, PA/Unionville) pass and firing one that D'Amico deflected into the top left corner of the cage at 49:53. Each team had a few chances for a regulation game-winner, including another Gagnon shot that was just wide in the 57th minute, but the score remained two-all as we headed to overtime.
After a Gagnon shot and D'Amico save to begin overtime, Cortland took it to the Hawks, putting up the next six shots, five off the stick of Quinlan. Osborne was phenomenal again, making multiple point-blank saves as well as five stops in a span of 1:14. Gagnon had another excellent chance to win it in the 67th minute, taking the ball in on a break, but her hard shot was stopped again by D'Amico.
The second overtime began with each team earning a corner off a rush, with neither coming close to a winner. Singer had a hard shot coming from a corner in the 74th minute that D'Amico saved, and Quinlan followed after a couple more Gagnon shots by rolling one inches wide of the Hartwick cage in the 77th minute. Osborne had a couple more saves to round out the second overtime as the game headed to a shootout.
The best-of-five shootout started with two Hartwick misses and a Cortland miss sandwiched in between, followed by Quinlan giving the Red Dragons the lead on a try where she faked left, went right, and sent one hard to the back left side of the cage. Singer countered immediately with a spectacular diving shot to put the ball in from a tough angle before it crossed the left end line, but Burchell immediately gave Cortland the shootout lead again with a hard shot that got by Osborne. After a miss from each side, Hartwick found themselves down to their final try. Tegan Robinson (Mechanicville, NY/Shenendehowa) was the woman for the job, as she went right and lasered a hard shot to tie the shootout at two strokes apiece. Osborne made sure Robinson's goal stood up, stopping Alanie Genter to force extra strokes. Quinlan then put the pressure on 'Wick by slipping one by Osborne, and after a reshoot, Bella Wheeler (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia) was stifled by a great diving save on the backhand by D'Amico to end the game.
Gagnon led all Hawks with her third double-digit shot game of the season, putting up 10 attempts, with a career-high eight going on target. Meuse was next with four shots (three on goal), followed by Allyson Quirk (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) and Singer at three each. Osborne was phenomenal in net all day, making a career-high 18 saves on 20 tries to keep her team in it.
Quinlan ended up with a game-high 12 shots, 10 of which went on target, as well as her assist and two shootout tallies. Burchell had five shots (four on goal), and Fox and Sara Reardon had two shots on target apiece. D'Amico was a brick wall for the Red Dragons, making 15 saves overall on 17 chances.
Cortland ended up with a slim 23-21 advantage in shots, turning around their 7-2 halftime deficit. They also led in shots on goal, at 20-17. The Red Dragons registered an 11-9 advantage in penalty corners, as well.
The Hawks, who currently sit in the final Empire 8 Tournament spot at fourth in the conference, have an important game next time out on Saturday. They travel to Rochester to take on Nazareth, currently the fifth-place team, at 1 p.m.
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