ONEONTA, NY – Grade-A chances were few and far between on the Elmore Field grass Saturday afternoon, as the Hartwick and St. John Fisher women's soccer teams ended up scoreless after two overtimes, ending the game tied 0-0 in each side's Empire 8 Conference opener. At the end of the day, 'Wick is 4-2-1 (0-0-1 E8) and the Cardinals are 2-5-1 (0-0-1 E8).
Gabrielle Kreppein (Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) had the first solid scoring chance in the ninth minute, but curled it wide of the net. Courtney Velho (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) would try next, taking a free kick from about 25 yards out in the 16th minute but sending it a few feet high. The Hawks almost took advantage of St. John Fisher keeper Kayla Shutts' mistake a minute-plus later when she kicked it right out to Julia Collado (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon), but Collado's pop-up shot hung in the air long enough for Shutts to recover and make the save. Collado had another nice chance late in the 22nd minute off a good ball from Tanner Reed (Unadilla, NY/Unatego Central), but her hard attempt was stopped by Shutts, one of her four saves in the first half. At the break, 'Wick dominated the shot sheet, 10-2.
Dana Caputo (Commack, NY/Commack) was the catalyst of an early second-half 'Wick chance, sending a free kick into the box to find Reed. Reed got her head on the ball and sent it towards the net, but it rolled a couple feet wide left. Caputo tried again in the 69th minute, sending a nice ball into the box off a corner, but Shutts got through the gaggle of players to punch it out. St. John Fisher almost stole the game in the 85th minute, when Becky Mack was sprung on a breakaway. Cassandra Robataille (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) came well off her line to cut down the angle and reached overhead to save Mack's shot. The Hawks had one more opportunity late in regulation on a Velho corner, but Shutts enveloped a loose ball to snuff that threat out.
Arianna Alvarez (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) sent a cross into the box under three minutes into the first ten-minute extra period that Shutts punched it out. The teams exchanged harmless shots midway through the period before the Cardinals nearly won the game in the 99th minute. Megan Letta took a cross that came through the box on the right side and sent one towards a clear net, but missed the golden opportunity wide. The game would go to a second overtime.
Robataille had a pair of important plays in the second extra period. She punched out a cross in the 105th minute and then covered a loose ball off a pass with under four to play in the game. Reed had the final shot of the night, a left-footed try that was headed for the back of the net before Shutts stopped it in its tracks.
Reed led the Hawks with five shots, four on target. Collado had three tries, all on net, and Kreppein and Maggie Rogers (Wharton, NJ/Morris Hills) had two shots apiece. Robataille made five saves for her 21st shutout as a Hawk.
St. John Fisher's Carli Kovarik led all players with seven shots, putting three on target. The only other Cardinal with multiple shots was Letta, with two. Shutts was strong in net, making nine saves en route to a shutout.
Hartwick had the 17-11 shot advantage, although the visitors led from the start of the second half on, 9-7. The Hawks ended up with three corners to the Cardinals' one.
'Wick returns to action on Wednesday, September 25, when they start a string of four road games by taking on Mount Saint Mary at 7 p.m. in non-conference play.
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