ONEONTA, NY – A pair of freshmen connected to give the Hartwick field hockey team a win in their home opener on Wednesday, as Leah Tolley (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) controlled the ball off of an Oneonta turnover and snapped a pass from outside the circle right to the stick of Sydney Gagnon (Chestertown, NY/North Warren Central), who swiped it home past the keeper. The goal put the Hawks up 3-2 in the 57th minute, and they held on to beat the city rival Red Dragons by that score. With the win, the Hawks move to 2-0 for the fourth straight season, as well as even up the all-time series with Oneonta at 25-25-4. The Red Dragons drop to 2-1 with the loss.
Hartwick got the scoring started early with a goal just 2:31 into the game. Katie Meuse (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) brought the ball along the end line on the right side, and eventually passed it over to Allyson Quirk (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) who tapped it in for her first of the year. The Hawks had another good chance at 9:08 when Rebecca Peakes (West Chester, PA/Unionville) sent the ball narrowly wide of the cage off of a corner. Oneonta struck for two goals and the lead later on in the first, when Ally McCrudden took a pass from Cali Cortese alone on keeper Allyson Osborne (Nottingham, PA/Solanco) and slid it into the net at 11:20 and Chloe Lynch popped one from the top of the circle off a corner at 13:36. 'Wick had four shots in the final 15 seconds of the quarter, including a corner, but could not send one home.
The first eight-plus minutes of the second quarter were fairly uneventful, with a lot of back-and-forth play but not much in the way of scoring chances. The Hawks ended that lull with a bang, when Brooke Singer (Johnson City, NY/Maine-Endwell) rocketed one into the back of the cage from about 12 yards out off a Peakes corner for her first of the season, tying the game at 2. Oneonta had the better of play for the remainder of the half, including a penalty stroke by Chloe Lynch at 28:10 that Osborne narrowly kept out of the cage. However, all those chances went for naught as the score remained 2-all after thirty minutes of play.
The Red Dragons came out and dominated the third quarter from start to finish, putting up six shots to 'Wick's zero and earning an 8-0 advantage on penalty corners. Osborne was up to the task, however making four saves including a fairly difficult one on Colleen Geyer at 36:15. The score stayed 2-2 after three quarters.
The two squads traded corner chances early in the final period, with neither converting. Cortese earned a green card at 55:00, which would prove important, as just 1:12 later Gagnon sent one into the back of the cage for a 3-2 lead with under four minutes to play. The Hawks withstood three penalty corners over the rest of the game, which saw Osborne make a pair of saves, and stood tall during a scramble with just under a minute to go, eventually clearing the ball past the center line and running out the clock.
The Hawks had a balanced attack overall, as no player had more than one of their six goals or assists. Singer led all Hawks with three shots, all on goal, and Quirk, Gagnon and Tegan Robinson (Mechanicville, NY/Shenendehowa) each had a pair of shots on target. Osborne was excellent in net, making 10 saves for the first time since 2017.
Lynch (three shots on goal) and McCrudden (three shots, two on goal) had the goals for Oneonta, and Cortese and Sophia Little had the assists. Grace Bilow led all players with four shots, two of which were on target. Kristy Campana made six saves on nine shots in the cage.
Oneonta had a 16-12 (12-9 on goal) shot advantage, thanks in part to their strong third quarter. They also had a big advantage on penalty corners, at 17-6, but could not convert them when it counted.
Hartwick is back on the Wright Stadium turf on Friday, when they have a 4 p.m. matchup with Morrisville.
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