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Croyle lifts Saints field hockey team to 2-1 win over Blue Knights

Posted 10/5/11

St. Lawrence University senior Julia Croyle scored two second half goals, lifting the Saints field hockey team to a 2-1 non-conference victory over Geneseo State on a soggy Tuesday evening at …

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Croyle lifts Saints field hockey team to 2-1 win over Blue Knights

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St. Lawrence University senior Julia Croyle scored two second half goals, lifting the Saints field hockey team to a 2-1 non-conference victory over Geneseo State on a soggy Tuesday evening at Hall-Leet Stadium.

The victory moves St. Lawrence to 7-4 on the season, while the Blue Knights fall to 7-5 overall. The Saints were certainly the more opportunistic team, as they were outshot 14-5 but scored on both of their penalty corner chances.

"We struggled in the first half, but were able to create a few chances in the circle late in the game," said St. Lawrence head coach Fran Grembowicz. "Nicole continued to play well in goal for us and we were fortunate to come away with a big win."

Sophomore Nicole Matos, who has had a fantastic 2011 season thus far, continued her excellent play in the cage with a nine save performance. The Greenwich, CT native made seven saves in the second half, including several from point blank range.

Geneseo State had the better of the play in a scoreless first half, outshooting St. Lawrence 5-1 in a driving rain. Despite five penalty corners, the Blue Knights came away empty. The Saints best scoring chance in the opening period came with just over a minute remaining, as sophomore Emma Berry fired a long pass to the right post, but senior Taylor Vogt was unable to get a stick on the ball and deflect it past Blue Knight goalie Nicole Zito.

The Blue Knights continued to pressure early in the second half, but the home team was able to flip the field and earn its first penalty corner in the 47th minute. The entry pass on the corner was sent to Berry, who blasted the ball towards the cage. Though Zito was in position to make the save, Croyle re-directed the ball past the goalie for her second goal of the season at 46:16 and a 1-0 advantage.

The Saints would build a 2-0 lead on nearly an identical corner try 12:00 minutes later. Berry again received the entry pass and hammered a ball towards the cage. This time, though, Croyle settled the ball, turned and fired a shot past Zito for a 2-0 lead. The time of Croyle's third goal of the season was 58:32.

Geneseo State tried feverishly to get back into the game, but Matos piled up several key saves in the waning minutes. Though Bridget McGovern scored her fourth goal of the game to cut her team's deficit to one at 2-1, the goal came with only 4.9 seconds left on the clock, which St. Lawrence easily ran out to protect the victory.

Zito finished with two saves in the game, falling to 2-1 on the season as a starter.

St. Lawrence, winners of three in a row, will host nationally-ranked No. 5 Skidmore College on Saturday, October 8 at Hall-Leet Stadium. The Saints and Thoroughbreds are slated to get underway at 3:00pm.