ONEONTA, N.Y. -- In the final SUNYAC match of the regular season, the Oneonta field hockey team shut down Oswego for a 3-0 win on the road, Saturday afternoon. Graduate student
Erin Clark (Somers, N.Y./Somers) was part of all three Red Dragons goals, recording one goal and two assists, while sophomore
Alexandra Howell (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) scored the first two goals. Junior
Maura Leib (East Syracuse, N.Y./East Syracuse Minoa) finished with five saves in the shutout as the Red Dragons improved to 8-7 on the season, 2-2 in the SUNYAC, and the Lakers dropped to 6-10 overall and 1-3 in conference play. With the victory, Oneonta clinched the three seed in the SUNYAC tournament, which starts November 6, and will face New Paltz in their first-round match.
The Red Dragons got on the board towards the end of the first half off a penalty corner at 26:07. Freshman
Skyler Van Wormer (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) passed the ball up top to Clark then Clark pushed it to her right side to Howell. Howell took a step into the shooting circle and fired the ball past several players into the goal.
At 35:24, Howell extended Oneonta's lead off another penalty corner. Clark received the ball at the top of the shooting circle and took a shot that was saved by Sam Krautheim. Howell made her way towards the front of the net to recover the rebound and shot it into the back of the cage. The goal was Howell's 13th of the season, the team-high, and it was Clark's team-high 10th assist of the year.
A couple minutes later, at 37:42, Clark scored the final goal of the game. The graduate student captain had the ball inside the shooting circle where she danced past one defender to create enough space for a shot that went past Krautheim's hand protector for her sixth goal of the season.
In the closing minutes, Oswego's Lily Rivenberg tried to get her team on the board, but Leib made the final save to keep the shutout intact. The junior keeper made most of her stops in the second period, including back-to-back saves at 24:10 that kept the game scoreless.
The shutout was Leib's third of the season as she improved to a .748 save percentage on the year. Krautheim finished with 13 saves for the Lakers. Oneonta outshot Oswego, 21-7, 16-5 on goal, and held a 10-3 penalty corner advantage.
The Red Dragons are back in action on Wednesday, October 30, for the Battle of the Hills against Hartwick at 4 pm.
