ONEONTA, NY – The Hartwick women's soccer team was picked off by West Street rival SUNY Oneonta on Wednesday afternoon, falling 3-0 to the Red Dragons in the sides' annual rivalry game. The win brings Oneonta up to 3-11-1 on the year, while the Hawks are now 6-4-4.
There was not much to speak of in the way of action over the opening 15 minutes, aside from a pair of Oneonta corners that the Hawks cleared away easily. Julia Collado (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon) had the game's first significant chance in the 16th minute, driving around a Red Dragon back towards the middle of the top of the box before shooting one wide left. An even better opportunity came just a few minutes later, as Hannah Bochniak (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent) won a free kick at the top of the box. Nicole Casab's (Utica, NY/T.R. Proctor) ensuing try went well wide to the right of the mark.
The Red Dragons took the advantage in the 21st minute. Robin Confer played a ball into the box that initially seemed like no problem, but Morgan Creeden beat Hartwick goalkeeper Sara Staup (Woodinville, WA/Woodinville) to the ball and headed it past her and over the line before it could be cleared away by a Hartwick back. Oneonta nearly made it a two-goal lead under three minutes later, as Staup was forced to come out and cut off a beautiful ball in for Abbey Wood. Staup did not quite get it cleanly, and as the two laid on the ground, Wood sent a try towards goal that Staup immediately blocked.
The next dangerous chance came in minute 36, as Oneonta's Marissa McMahon had a ball played for her towards the right side of the box. Her hard shot went across the box and wide of the left post. The Red Dragons finally did double their advantage as the clock struck 40 minutes. Leighann Perciballi's corner went over a few heads and was redirected towards goal by Kayla Schwizer. The shot was initially ruled to have been cleared off the line by Casab, but the linesman eventually flagged down the referee and the effort was ruled a goal. That ended up as the final shot in the half, as the home side led by two at the break.
After nearly a quarter-hour of not much for either side to start the second half, Gianna Cacciola (Wading River, NY/Shoreham Wading River) had a try towards net in the 59th minute from outside the box that went to the right of the far post. She had another chance to cut the lead in half four minutes later on a give-and-go with Bochniak, but her final touch was a bit heavy and smothered by Oneonta goalkeeper Claire Lepper.
The Red Dragons put the game away a minute later. Wood sprung Emma Kirkpatrick down the left touchline, and the junior forward kept on going, eventually cutting in and beating Staup for the 3-0 lead in the 64th minute. Staup kept the deficit at three in the 72nd minute, leaning to make a save on Sarah Paige's inside-the-box try.
Collado and Cacciola led the Hawks with two shots apiece, while Casab and Kayla Grassi (Montgomery, NY/Pine Bush) had the other tries for Hartwick. Staup played all 90 minutes in net, making four saves.
The hosts had a 10-6 shot advantage on 'Wick, as well as a 7-1 lead in shots on goal. The Red Dragons also earned more corners than the Hawks, with a 4-1 advantage in that category.
'Wick wraps up their regular season on Saturday, as they host Utica at 2 p.m. on Elmore Field. The result will be an important one for the Hawks, as they could finish as high as second or as low as fourth in the Empire 8 table based both on the outcome of that game as well as the outcomes of St. John Fisher's and Alfred's remaining contests. In addition, seniors Gina Fahrenholz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains Fanwood), Luisa Andrade (Sao Paulo, Brazil/The Pennington School), Collado, and Cassie Fedor (Torrington, CT/Torrington) will be honored before the game in recognition of their contributions to the program.
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