Athletics News

BOX SCORE

SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Junior  Sophia Ferguson notched a goal and assist while junior Sara McCabe and freshman Katie Teleky each found the back of the cage as the Swarthmore College field hockey team held off a late Neumann rally and hung on for the 3-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon from Clothier Field Stadium.

A hard fought and physical game throughout, the Garnet wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard after the opening whistle. In just the third minute of play, Ferguson took a pass from freshman Sophia Agathis on the right wing and beat the Neumann goalkeeper on the very first shot of the game, giving the Garnet the early 1-0 lead.

Swarthmore (4-3, 1-0) would extend the lead and looked poised to turn the game into a rout with another goal in the 14^th minute of  play. Junior Devon Novotnak handled a corner from Ferguson, passed it off to McCabe, who rocketed the ball into the back of the cage to give the Garnet a 2-0 lead.

But Neumann (1-4) would sneak back into the game with a goal in the final seconds of the first half. The Knights got a corner with :09 seconds remaining in the first half, and after a scramble for the ball in the circle, Neumann’s Melissa Malick got possession and sneaked a ball past Swat goalie Katie Ashmore with no time remaining, cutting the lead to 2-1.

In the second half, Teleky scored her team team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 42^nd minute to extend the Garnet lead to 3-1. However,  Neumann would respond quickly, as Melissa Hood scored off an assist from her sister Lauren Hood to make it a one-goal game. But that was as close as the Knights would get, as the Garnet defense and goalkeeper Ashmore clamped down in the final 25 minutes as Swarthmore hung on for the 3-2 win.

For the game, the Garnet held a decisive advantage in shots on goal (13-7) and corners (20-4) – including four when time had expired in the second half.

The Garnet return to action on Saturday, when its hosts No. 8 Johns Hopkins from Clothier Field Stadium. Action is slated to begin at noon.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Field Hockey, Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.