ONEONTA, NY – The Hartwick field hockey team soundly defeated their city rivals on Wednesday evening, taking out SUNY Oneonta at their place by a 3-1 scoreline in a game that was rescheduled from earlier in the season. The win, which is the Hawks third straight over the Red Dragons, moves them to 8-3, their best start since 2016 when they began the season with 13 wins in 16 games. Oneonta's loss drops them to 2-8 on the year.
Lex Matarazzo (Commack, NY/Commack) got the scoring started for 'Wick in the ninth minute. She snuck behind Oneonta goalkeeper Kristy Campana to tip a loose ball over the goal line for the 1-0 lead. The rest of the half was fairly quiet, with just four more shots for the Hawks and two for their hosts.
Hartwick finally got an insurance goal in the third quarter, although it took more than 15 minutes to make it happen. After earning a penalty corner with two seconds remaining in the period, Sydney Gagnon (Chestertown, NY/North Warren Central) took a shot that was redirected in front by Leah Tolley (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) for the 2-0 lead, officially ending the third quarter.
Matarazzo secured her first career multi-goal game with just under three minutes to go, redirecting an Emily Schaub (Brewster, NY/Brewster) over the line at 57:36. Oneonta's Morgan Fleming broke up the clean sheet with 29 seconds remaining, as she controlled a Madeline Acevedo pass and backhanded it into the cage.
Gagnon led all players with four shots, with Tolley and Mackenzie Kensel (San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch) right behind at three. Madison Maddocks (Garrison, NY/Walter Panas) played all 60 minutes in goal, just missing the shutout but making four saves in the win.
Hartwick ruled the shot count, at 13-5, although the margin for shots on goal was a much slimmer 7-5. The Red Dragons had the lead in penalty corners, at 6-5.
'Wick is back to it on Saturday for their biggest game of the season so far, as they take on a St. John Fisher team that is also undefeated in the Empire 8. The game, which may well determine home field advantage in the conference tournament, will be played in Rochester at 5 p.m.
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