MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Marauders made a late push to force overtime against the No. 1 East Stroudsburg Warriors, but an early goal in the second overtime period gave the Warriors a 2–1 victory. Millersville is now 6–4 on the season.
The Warriors got on the board right after the opening whistle, taking the ball outside the circle to the right of the goal. The ball flew up in the air and landed right at Madison Kline's feet, where she turned around and whipped a shot up high to give East Stroudsburg an early lead just 1:02 into the game. After the quick goal, both teams settled in and tightened up, evenly trading chances.
Momentum began to turn in the second half, with the Marauders getting five shots in both the third and fourth quarter. Near the midway mark of the third, the Marauders had a corner, and
Codi Bollinger had two shot attempts on it but were blocked, and the second one ricocheted to
Emma Ruley, but was stopped at the goal line.
After nearly two quarters of knocking on the doorstep, the Marauders finally got through the Warriors defense, as Nogoduka was able to evade defenders to the right of the goal and pass it to
Morgan Lennon at the front of the net, who cashed in and tied the game. Millersville had a couple of other chances before regulation expired, but the contest would need overtime to determine the winner.
Both teams traded chances trying to cash in on fast breaks, but the best chance of the first overtime belonged to the Warriors. Kerry Kaufman was in all alone on
Kerstin Koons, but Koons went down to the ground and rejected the shot. The rebound found its way back out to Charlotte Simon, but by the chance she got control of it,
Gianna Cugino raced back to the goal line and made the defensive save to keep the game going.
After 73:59 of game time, Nicole Krozser found space and was able to score the game winning goal for the Warriors.
The Marauders host a pair of games this weekend, the first one being against the Mercyhurst Lakers at noon on Saturday, Oct. 7.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Marauders outshot the Warriors 15–12 and led in shots on goal 10–7. The Warriors had all five shots of the two overtime periods. Penalty corners were roughly even, 13 for Millersville and 11 for East Stroudsburg.
- Kristin Strijdom and Ruley were the only Marauders to have multiple shots on net. Kline led all players between both teams with three.
GAME NOTES
- The Marauders are now 11–27 all-time against the Warriors, with six of the last seven games being decided by one goal, and four of those seven being overtime losses.
POSTGAME REACTION FROM SHELLY BEHRENS
- Overall thoughts on the game: "I'm super proud of our team, couldn't be prouder and nothing but positivity for what we did tonight and hopefully keep building on. I think we're a heck of a team and I think we're going to get the result and look out when we do."
- On the team's response to the early goal: "I thought they were good with how they reacted. I think it was a soft goal for us to give up, we're better than that. I want us to learn from that and I thought how the kids kept bringing it quarter by quarter was great."
- On the late push to tie the game: "I thought we had a couple of great opportunities in the fourth quarter to finish you, their goalkeeper made some nice saves. Again, they're a very well-coached team, it's a good team. There's a reason they are who they are. I love everything we're doing right now and I thought it was a heck of a game for the fans, it certainly was a fun game to coach."
- Final thoughts: "PSAC field hockey is this kind of game every game, and you have to bring every game. I just love our heart tonight and I love the effort we gave, and now it's onto the next game."
