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SLU field hockey team picks up first victory of season with 5-1 win against Utica College

Posted 9/5/10

CANTON -- The St. Lawrence University field hockey team picked up its first win of the season on Sunday afternoon, as the Saints used a four-goal first half en route to a 5-1 victory against Utica …

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SLU field hockey team picks up first victory of season with 5-1 win against Utica College

Posted

CANTON -- The St. Lawrence University field hockey team picked up its first win of the season on Sunday afternoon, as the Saints used a four-goal first half en route to a 5-1 victory against Utica College at North Country Field.

Junior Erika Swits scored a pair of goals while senior Brooke Maloney added a goal and an assist.

The Saints (1-1, 0-0) bounced back nicely after an overtime loss to Oneonta State on Saturday. Meanwhile, Utica, which had defeated Thomas College 6-0 in its opening game, fell to 1-1 on the young season as well.

"I thought we did a much better job around the goal today. We were moving the ball more efficiently and took advantage of our scoring chances early," said St. Lawrence head coach Fran Grembowicz. "Julia (Croyle) and Emily (Riley) did a great job for us defensively while Brooke and Erika looked sharp on the offensive end."

Swits gave the Scarlet and Brown the early lead 10:53 into regulation when she slapped a shot off the near post and behind Utica goalkeeper Monica Storms for her first goal of the season. The Pioneers took only 6:57 to level the scoring at 1-1, though, when Mallory Mariano picked up her second goal of the weekend at 17:50. A quick pass from Avion Ashton set up Mariano in front of St. Lawrence keeper Brittany Clark and she snapped a hard shot to the back of the cage.

St. Lawrence would respond in style, tallying three consecutive goals in a span of 8:57 to build a 4-1 advantage at halftime. Swits again put her team on top 2-1, this time off of a great centering feed from Maloney at 22:43. Sophomore Ashley Ferenczy added her first of the season off of a penalty corner when Croyle crossed the ball to the far post away from Storms. The pass was right of Ferenczy's stick, and the Williamsville, NY native finished the play for a 3-1 lead.

Junior Regional All-America Emily Riley made it 4-1 at 31:40 when she unloaded a hard, high shot past Storms. The goal was Riley's first of 2010 and was unassisted.

After Ashton was sent off with a yellow card for Utica early in the second half, Maloney took advantage of the player-up try and made it 5-1 with a dazzling unassisted goal at 40:03. The Greenwich, CT native made several quick moves around the Pioneer defense and unleashed a shot that beat Storms inside the near post for the four-goal St. Lawrence cushion.

Clark, who made two saves and picked up her first collegiate victory in net, was relieved by sophomore Maureen McCoy with 24:49 remaining. McCoy went on to face an array of shots from the Pioneers, who had 12 penalty corners in the second half. However, the New Hartford, NY native was up to the task and stopped each of the seven shots on goal she faced to solidify her team's 5-1 victory.

Utica closed with a 14-12 advantage in shots thanks to a 12-1 mark in the second half. Each team finished with 13 penalty corners, as the Saints had nine to Utica's one in the opening 35:00 minutes. Clark and McCoy combined for nine saves for St. Lawrence, while Storms finished with six stops for Utica.

The Scarlet and Brown will be in action again a week from today when they welcome Hartwick College to Canton, NY on Saturday, September 11. The game is scheduled