Garden City, N.Y. - Anchored by a defense that faced 21 shots, the Adelphi University field hockey team earned a much-needed win against University of New Haven on Tuesday evening, by a final score of 3-2.
The first 15 minutes were the quietest, as both squads spent the opening frame feeling each other out, shooting a combined four times. With the Brown and Gold threatening early, New Havens goalkeeper Cara Lambert made two timely saves to keep the game deadlocked at 0.
Intensity certainly picked up in the following quarter. Less than a minute in, New Haven's Eliza Cavan broke the ice to give the visitors a quick 1-0 lead. Not to be outdone, less than 90 seconds later,
Jillian Riche continued her point streak, feeding
Sydney Rossacci inside the circle, who tapped in the equalizer. Both sides continued to duke it out, with the Blue and Gold getting seven shots inside the scoring circle off of four penalty corners.
Just before the end of the half, a nearly identical offensive setup saw Riche feed another Panther, this time
Elisabeth Seyfarth for her second goal of the season. The productive quarter put the hosts up 2-1 going into the break.
After ten minutes of rest, the intensity stayed just where it left off. The sides combined for 12 shots on goal and six penalty corners, with the visitors accounting for eight and four of which, respectively. Despite both teams tallying multiple corners within just a few minutes, the defenses shined not letting any ball get through the circle.
The final frame saw less opportunities with Adelphi playing keepaway for much of the quarter. However, some much needed insurance came via
Amanda Lee about halfway through. She took a ball from the top of the circle and fired it home, leaving the whole crowd to hear it hit the back of the cage and put the Brown and Gold up 3-1.
In her second start,
Fiona Mannion made two huge saves late in the fourth quarter to keep New Haven out of the scoring column. The visitors' Cavan tallied another goal with less than three minutes to play to keep it close, yet the defense had the final say, leading to Adelphi capturing its seventh conference win.
Head Coach
Jess Mulhern and the Panthers will wrap up regular season play on Saturday (Oct. 28), when they take on Saint Michael's College. Game time from Colchester, Vt. is set for 11 a.m.
