PATCHOGUE, NY – The Hartwick women's lacrosse team made a couple comeback bids on the day, one of them successful, but ultimately ran out of time in a 13-11 road loss to St. Joseph's College (LI) in Patchogue on Saturday. The Hawks take their first loss of the season, dropping to 1-1, while the Golden Eagles start off the season on a positive note by winning their opener and moving to 1-0.
St. Joseph's jumped out to a quick start, scoring the first three goals in six-plus minutes, two on free position shots. Hailey Pooler (Adams Center, NY/South Jefferson) got 'Wick on the board with a tally a little over thirty seconds later, assisted by Emma Knapp (Canandaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman). After another Golden Eagle goal by Diana Johnston (her second of the day), Jennifer Darasz (Gorham, ME/Gorham) and Pooler took turns assisting each other's goals, pulling the Hawks to within one at 4-3 with 8:11 showing on the clock. The home squad scored again under a minute later, but Hartwick kept at it, eventually tying the game on goals from Knapp and GinaMarie Wilson (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow). The Hawks drew a yellow card soon after their goal, which resulted in a man-up, free position goal from St. Joseph's Nicole Stoppelli to retake the lead. Johnston scored again with six seconds left in the half, giving the Golden Eagles a 7-5 lead to take into the locker room.
The first two minutes of the second half saw two more St. Joseph's goals by the same duo that scored in the final two minutes of the second half, as Johnston and Stoppelli tallied fifty seconds apart to extend the lead out to four, at 9-5. Darasz converted a free position shot just over five-and-a-half minutes in to cut the deficit to three, but the Hawks could not follow up, and goals from St. Joseph's Tori Staker and another by Johnston (assisted by Stoppelli) gave the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the day, at 11-6. 'Wick did not quit, as Emily Schaub (Brewster, NY/Brewster) scored her first collegiate goal with 15:28 left and Michaela McKernan (Branchville, NJ/High Point Regional) tallied her first of the season to again make the margin just three. St. Joseph's went right back to it, however, answering with another Johnston goal under a minute later which was followed up by a Lauryn Gregson tally 41 seconds after that. Amy Tracy (Smithtown, NY/Florida Southern College) scored while down a woman just as the clock moved to under five minutes, making the score 13-9. Wilson converted off a dish from Pooler with 1:57 on the clock, and Pooler did the finishing herself 54 seconds later to cut the score to 13-11. 'Wick pressured the Golden Eagles further in the final minute, including a shot from Pooler that went wide and a shot from Tracy that was high, but they could not put the ball in the net and ultimately ran out of time down two.
Pooler had the biggest day for the Hawks, scoring three goals on five shots and assisting on three more tallies, as well as causing two turnovers, controlling two draws, and scooping a ground ball. She now has 86 career assists, which ties the program record for assists in a career, and she should be in first all alone shortly. Darasz also had a productive game, registering two goals on three shots, two assists, three ground balls, two caused turnovers, and a tie for the team-high (with Pooler) with two draw controls. Tracy, Wilson, and Knapp all had two points: Tracy and Knapp had a goal and an assist, Wilson had two goals. Emma Kaplan (Danbury, CT/Danbury) led Hartwick with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Goalkeeper Jennifer Paszko (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) had eight saves in the first half, also contributing with two ground balls, while Ashley Jablonowski (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) took over in the second half and made two saves herself.
The game was close on the stat sheet, as 'Wick had just a 27-26 advantage in shots and St. Joseph's a 23-22 lead in shots on goal. Hartwick was better overall in not giving the ball up as well as clearing the zone when they got the ball back; the Hawks had 14 turnovers to the Golden Eagles' 20, and were 23-of-24 on clears compared to the home team's 14-of-18. Hartwick had a 23-16 advantage in ground balls, but St. Joseph's fared much better on the draw, controlling 20 of 26 draws. The Hawks also found themselves in trouble with the officials more often, compiling 22 fouls to the Golden Eagles' 16 and six yellow cards to zero for the home squad.
Stoppelli and Johnston starred for St. Joseph's. Stoppelli had eight points, with four goals on seven shots and four more assists, two draw controls, a ground ball, and a caused turnovers. Johnston had six goals, three draw controls, and two ground balls. Staker had significant totals in every box score category. She had three points (one goal and two assists) and team highs with 13 draw controls, five ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Lindsey Ramos manned the net for the Golden Eagles, making 11 saves and scooping two ground balls.
Hartwick continues their season on Wednesday, March 6, traveling to Wells College for a 6 p.m. start.
Make sure to catch the latest news on all your favorite Hartwick Hawks teams by following @HawkTalk on Twitter, @hartwickhawks on Instagram, and by liking 'Hartwick Hawks' on Facebook.
