By Andrew Snyder, Staff Writer
Susquehanna’s field hockey team (3–5) was defeated by Elizabethtown (6–2) 1–0 in overtime on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Wolf Field on the campus of Elizabethtown.
Leading the effort for the River Hawks was junior goalie Emily DiGaetano, who recorded saves while completing the regular time shutout.
Offensively, the charge was led by junior attacker Hunter Pittman, who had five of the 12 River Hawk shots Saturday afternoon.
The first half led to a scoreless tie, with neither team able to muster much offensively.
Susquehanna’s defense stifled a couple early penalty corners from Elizabethtown at the five-minute mark.
Nearly 20 minutes into the first half, Pittman took a couple of penalty corners which came up empty for the River Hawks.
DiGaetano was able to fend off a late surge from the Blue Jays, who recorded three shots and two penalty corners in the last five minutes of the first half.
The score remained 0–0 heading into the second half.
The second half proved to be more of the same for both sides, as defense continued to rule the day.
Susquehanna was able to create four penalty corners early in the half and shots on goal from sophomore midfielder Vivian Simone and freshman midfielder Katie Koch.
The Jays defense did not break and the score remained tied.
DiGaetano committed a key save on an Elizabethtown penalty stroke 15 minutes into the second half. The defense gridlock continued deep into regular time.
Susquehanna put forth one last charge offensively, but Elizabethtown refused to break.
Senior attacker Stephanie Sachs and freshman defender AJ Smith both got shots off with less than five minutes to go in the game.
The River Hawks missed on two penalty corners and the score remained 0–0 at the end of regular time, sending the game into overtime.
The beginning of overtime was dominated by the River Hawks, who were able to record a couple of shots while also getting two penalty corner chances only six minutes into overtime.
A Susquehanna penalty in the 77th minute proved costly for the River Hawks. Elizabethtown was able to convert on a penalty stroke, ending the game in a 1–0 Jays victory.
The River Hawks return to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29 when they host Moravian.