A penalty stroke with 1:03 remaining in regulation proved to be the difference on Friday night, as the St. Lawrence field hockey team fell 3-2 to Oneonta in its season opener at the Utica Tournament in Utica, New York.
"I thought for our very young team's first time on the field we played a terrific passing game and gave ourselves opportunities to put the ball in the net. We also played really well on our press and made key stops," head coach
Fran Grembowicz said.
Junior captain
Jackie Reiss led the St. Lawrence with a goal and an assist, as she tallied the first Saints' goal in the 39
th minute to cut the deficit in half and then later set up
McShane Sneath to tie the game.
Marlee Paterson also recorded an assist for the Saints, the first assist of her career. Â
The Saints scored two unanswered goals in the second half, including Reiss's tally in the 39
th minute from Paterson that put St. Lawrence on the board and cut an early deficit to 2-1.
Just four minutes after Sneath had tied the game for the Saints, fully erasing an early 2-0 deficit, Emily Raymond converted on the stroke for the Red Dragons to seal the win.
"We never quit, we never gave up – even after that stroke which was unfortunate, but every continued to battle and I'm really proud of what they put on the field today. Hopefully we continue to improve and get our scoring stroke, but overall it was a really good day for the Saints," Grembowicz added.
First-year
Ashton Coleman recorded a defensive save, while
Sydney Giacin finished with six saves for St. Lawrence. Her counterpart, Kristy Campana from Oneonta, also finished with six saves, while Jessica Kehoe had two defensive saves for the Red Dragons.
With the loss, the Saints drop to 0-1 on the season, while Oneonta improves to 1-0.
The Saints will return to Utica on Saturday afternoon for a 2:30 p.m. matchup against New Paltz.
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