ONEONTA, NY – The box score may have shown domination, but it took until the waning minutes on the Wright Stadium turf on Wednesday night for the Hartwick field hockey team to find a winner. It came off the stick of Ashley Tricarico (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay) with 2:30 left, her second goal of the game. The win bumps the Hawks up to 3-2 on the year, while the Dutchwomen fall to 2-4.

There was nonstop action in the first half, as the teams combined for 25 shots over the opening 30 minutes. Union opened the scoring in the fifth minute, as Grace Krebs sent an airborne ball over to Emily Dawson who knocked it down, turned, and sent it home for the 1-0 lead. The score was nearly 2-0 under four minutes later, but a goalbound Dawson shot was kept out by Emily Strutt (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington). Julie Ruzzi (High Falls, NY/Rondout Valley) came close to tying it a couple times before the quarter ended, including once on a long-range backhand try in the 14^th minute that needed a reaching Heather Poisson stick save to be kept out.

The second quarter was perhaps as dominant a 15 minutes the Hawks have had in some time, as despite scoring just once, they outshot their guests 13-0 and earned six corners to the Dutchwomen's zero. The goal came early on, in the 18^th minute. Sydney Gagnon's (Chestertown, NY/North Warren Central) long backhanded effort off a corner was blocked, and Rebecca Peakes' (West Chester, PA/Unionville) follow-up try hit the post. Not to worry, though, because Tricarico was there to clean everything up and knot the game at one.

'Wick had two gorgeous chances to take the lead before the half was up. The first came in the 22^nd minute; Libby Fortin (State College, PA/State College Area) had plenty of room short side off a corner, but held on just too long and pulled it wide. Tricarico almost had her second of the quarter in the 25^th minute, but Union's Haley Dineen kept it out with a defensive save.

Perhaps the two sides were exhausted from all the first half action, or maybe there were some halftime adjustments from the two coaching staffs, but there were not any chances of much note in the third quarter. The fourth started the same way, until Jill Bove nearly regained the lead for Union in the 50th minute. 'Wick keeper Madison Maddocks (Garrison, NY/Walter Panas) had something to say about that, however, and denied her to keep the score knotted at one. Shots from Ruzzi and Gagnon later in the period both required nifty Poisson saves, but the Hawks finally broke through again in the 58^th minute. Emily Schaub (Brewster, NY/Brewster) spun around a couple defenders and backhanded a pass to Tricarico, who sent it just inside the near right post for the eventual winner.

As per usual, Gagnon led all players in shots with nine, although she could not quite find her way on to the scoresheet. Tricarico had her most impressive game as a Hawk this evening, shooting a career-high five times to go with her two goals; she now has three tallies in the last two contests. Maddocks matched her career high with seven saves in 60 minutes, earning the win.

Hartwick dominated the shot count, at 24 to 10, although they led just 12 to 9 in shots on target. The Hawks also had a significant lead in penalty corners, at 15 to 8.

'Wick returns to play on Saturday, when they take the long trip to Washington and Jefferson for their Empire 8 opener at 7 p.m.

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