TROY, N.Y. -- Senior
Morgan Fleming (Harpursville, N.Y./Harpursville) found the cage twice and forced overtime, however the SUNY Oneonta field hockey team came up short against RPI, 3-2, Saturday afternoon. The Red Dragons wrapped up the regular season with a 7-9 record while the Engineers finished 8-9 overall.
In the first period, both teams spent a little bit of time in their respective shooting circles, and with a couple minutes left Oneonta put one on the board. Senior
Carly Waszczak (Northport, N.Y./Northport) pushed out the penalty corner to senior
Claire Mahoney (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) and Mahoney passed to her left side to junior
Madeline Acevedo (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent). Acevedo hit the ball down towards the right side of the cage to senior
Elyssa DeWitt (Tillson, N.Y./Rondout Valley) who redirected the ball to Fleming for the goal.
The Engineers held the ball a little longer in the second period, but the Red Dragon defenders were a wall between the ball and cage. Halfway through the second, senior
Jennifer Tumino (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) kick saved the lone shot that made it to her, a backhander by Lauren McCarthy.
RPI tied the game up with a minute and a half left in the third period. McCarthy took the penalty corner and pushed it out to Abby Peterson. Peterson passed the ball to the top of the shooting circle to Brianna Duba who shot the ball just underneath the right foot of Tumino for the goal.
Five minutes into the fourth period, the Engineers took the lead. RPI forced a turnover near the 25-yard line and got the ball to Nina Caprio. Caprio brought the ball into the shooting circle from the corner and centered it to Delana Bonci and scored, giving RPI a 2-1 lead with 9:41 remaining. With less than two minutes to go, Fleming hit the equalizer. Mahoney received the penalty corner at the top of the shooting circle and passed to junior
Erin Clark (Somers, N.Y./Somers) on the wing. Clark sent the ball down perfectly to a waiting Fleming to redirect the ball for the score and force overtime.
Early into overtime, the Engineers moved the ball across the field and found an open Bonci near the midfield sideline. Bonci took the ball all the way into the shooting circle and shot the ball at Tumino and it bounced off her pads and rolled into the cage.
Tumino and Sarah Nace each finished with two saves in the cage.
RPI outshot Oneonta 13-8 and had an 11-7 advantage on penalty corners.
The Red Dragons return to action on Wednesday for the SUNYAC Semifinals when they travel to face rival Cortland at 4 pm.
