ONEONTA, NY – A goal in the 13th minute was the lone scoring play on Wednesday afternoon at Wright Stadium, as #6 Vassar narrowly defeated the Hartwick field hockey team, 1-0. The nationally-ranked Brewers remain undefeated, with an 8-0 record, while the Hawks drop to 6-2.
Vassar dominated play in the early part of the first quarter. They put a pair of shots on National Field Hockey Coaches Association Defensive Player of the Week Allyson Osborne (Nottingham, PA/Solanco) a few minutes in, but she stopped them both, and a Brewer foul ended play in front of the net after the ensuing corner. The Hawks continued to stifle Vassar chances, but the visitors finally broke through at 12:24. A shot from Grace Amell hit the right post, Avery Bauman's try was saved by Osborne, and then Sam Kass pushed one across the line through the scramble in front.
Hartwick got their first shot of the night in the 25th minute, when Sydney Gagnon (Chestertown, NY/North Warren Central) hit one out of midair just to the left of the post after it was played into the middle of the circle. Allyson Quirk (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) had the next chance at 25:36, but Vassar goalie Liz Rotolo came out of her cage to cut down the angle and stop the shot. Gagnon had a deflected shot off the subsequent corner, but Rotolo reached to her right and pushed it wide right. The Brewers' best chance of the second quarter came in the final ninety seconds off a corner, but Ella Pearl's deflection off a hit from outside the circle went wide. The score remained 1-0 at the break.
The Hawks came out strong to start the third, earning a corner in the fourth minute. 'Wick had three shots after Rebecca Peakes (West Chester, PA/Unionville) put the ball back in play. Leah Tolley's (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) attempt was saved, and Tegan Robinson (Mechanicville, NY/Shenendehowa) followed with a pair of tries that were blocked and sent wide, in that order. Vassar got back to it soon after, earning three corners and multiple chances in front of the cage in the 37th and 38th minutes, but strong netfront defending and some good Osborne stops kept the Brewers from doubling their lead. Vassar did almost get their second of the day a couple minutes later; after a Heidi Zahnleuter shot was saved and a Rylie Pope try went wide, a Hartwick foul led to a penalty stroke at 39:02. Pope took it, and sent one hard and low that Osborne made a pad save on. 'Wick had one more good chance in the third quarter, when a long hit from Maggie Stauble (Kingston, NY/Kingston) from the right sideline went through the circle and just out of reach of a streaking Bella Wheeler (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia) with thirty seconds remaining.
Vassar had a chance early on in the fourth, but otherwise the first portion of the final period went by relatively harmlessly. Hartwick earned a corner with 4:03 left that was stifled, and played much of the rest of the game in the Vassar half. The Hawks could not manufacture any significant chances for a while, however. Gagnon changed that with 1:25 left, when she took a Quirk pass out of midair and rifled it towards the back of the cage, but it ran into Rotolo's pad before it could get there. The Brewers controlled much of play for the final minute-plus, as time ran out on 'Wick's comeback bid.
As she often does, Gagnon led all players with four shots (half of Hartwick's total), three of which went on target. Robinson had a pair of shots, and Quirk and Tolley had the other two attempts. Coming off her sterling week, Osborne's shutout streak was stopped at 206:51, but she was magnificent all day otherwise, making nine saves. Her 0.99 goals against average and .852 save percentage are both in the top 25 in the nation.
Vassar spread out their shot attempts, with nine players having at least one of their 13 tries. Cristina Lopez, Pope, Amell, and Zahnleuter each had two shots. Rotolo made five saves for her second-straight and the team's fourth-consecutive shutout.
The Brewers had a modest 13-8 lead in shots, with a 10-5 advantage in shots on target. They also led in earning penalty corners, 8-4.
The Hawks have the weekend off but return to action next Wednesday, October 2 for their first of three-straight road games. They travel to Schenectady to take on Union at 6 p.m. A win would give them a 7-2 start, their best record through nine games since 2004, when they began 8-1 and won the Empire 8 Conference.
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