Box Score
Springfield, Mass. - After a scoreless first half, junior
Mary Plotas tallied two goals in the second frame to lead the Adelphi University field hockey team past the Yellow Jackets of American International College, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Panthers, ranked #10 in the most recent NFHCA national poll, improve to 5-1 overall while the Yellow Jackets drop to 3-3.
Despite taking 12 shots in the opening half and holding the hosts without a shot, the Panthers were unable to break a scoreless tie. Their best chance to score in the first half came early on, as they found themselves with a penalty corner opportunity in the 12th minute. Plotas sent the ball to
Molly Cuevas, but AIC midfielder Emily Kollar dove into the goal for the defensive save.
As the half went on, American International goalie Ainslee Penfield was consistently threatened by the Panther attack, but she and the Yellow Jacket defense recorded eight saves to keep the Brown and Gold off the board.
The Panthers finally broke through the Yellow Jacket defense in the 55th minute in a reversal of their earlier scoring chance. This time, it was Cuevas who found Plotas off of the penalty corner and she beat Penfield to give Adelphi the 1-0 edge.
Less than five minutes later, Plotas once again found herself in the middle of things as she fired a pass from
Lena Pollich into the back of the net for the insurance goal. Penfield continued to turn away Adelphi, who controlled possession late in the game, and prevent them from scoring any more goals as she totaled 11 saves.
In total, Adelphi outshot the hosts by a 21-6 margin, including 14-3 in shots on goal while also leading in penalty corners 11-7.
The Panthers return to action on Tuesday, Sepetember 30 when they travel to nearby Brookville, N.Y. to take on the Pioneers of LIU-Post at 4 p.m.
