Saints Fall 6-5 to Top Ten Nationally Ranked Panthers

by: 

Tara Freeman

Senior Joss-Elyse Smith scored four goals for the Saints Wednesday.

Oct. 21:  The St. Lawrence University field hockey team, now 10-3 and currently ranked 2^nd in the region, played hard Wednesday, but fell short by one to Middlebury College 6-5.  The panthers are currently ranked tenth in the country, while the Saints follow at 17^th.

St. Lawrence and Middlebury battled point for point throughout the contest.  Both teams showed exceptional offensive and defensive pressure.  The Scarlet and Brown out-shot the Panthers 34-20 and had 17 scoring opportunities off penalty corners, while Middlebury trailed with ten.

In the first half, Middlebury came out strong, quickly pressuring the Saints' defensive end.  In the fourth minute of the game, Mullery Doar put the Panthers on the board with a goal off a hard shot from the middle of the circle after a penalty corner.

The Scarlet and Brown responded just four minutes later, as senior Joss-Elyse Smith hammered the ball into the left corner right in front of the net, tying the game at one.

Middlebury continued to press hard, but the Saints fought back.  The Panthers had a nice opportunity with 24 minutes left to play, but senior goalkeeper Emilie Lannamann had an impressive kick save to prevent a goal.

In the fourteenth minute of the first half, junior Caitlin Estes put the Saints ahead with a hard shot close to the net.  The Panthers reacted immediately, as Charlotte Gardiner passed the ball to Sally Ryan who fired it into the left corner of the net, tying the game at two in the fifteenth minute of play.

The Panthers upped their lead by two just two minutes later as Heather McCormack took a shot on net, and Chase Delano grabbed the rebound to put the ball past Lannamann in the top left corner.

The Saints had some great opportunities with junior Brooke Maloney and senior Joss-Elyse Smith working the ball well in the Panthers' defensive end.

In the 21^st minute, Middlebury made the score 4-2, off a penalty corner.  Mullery Doar passed the ball to Charlotte Gardiner who nailed it into the top right corner.

Just before the end of the first period, the Scarlet and Brown brought the deficit to one as Smith grabbed her second goal of the night off a shot from the left corner of the circle.

In the second half, the battle continued as both teams continued to find the back of the net.  The Panthers upped their lead by two, as Emily Blair took a shot on net.  Lannamann made a nice save, but Heather McCormack grabbed the rebound, putting the ball in the left corner in the 37^th minute of play.

Five minutes later, Middlebury scored again.  Lauren Greer made the score 6-3 off a penalty corner as she nailed a shot from the top of the circle.

The Saints fought back.  Smith showed off some nice stick skills in the middle of the Panthers' back end.  Roughly three minutes after Middlebury's sixth goal, first-year Courtney Davis passed the ball to Smith who put the ball past goalkeeper Madeline Brooks off a rebound, making the score 6-4, and grabbing a hatrick.

The Panthers created some more opportunities late in the second half.  With 18 minutes to play, Lannamann made a big dive to intercept a Middlebury cross avoiding a potential goal.

In the 53^rd minute of play, the Scarlet and Brown brought the deficit to one as Smith scored her fourth of the night when she dribbled the ball into the circle and took a hard shot into the left corner of the net.

St. Lawrence showed tremendous effort throughout the last minutes of the half.  Maloney crossed the ball with eighth minutes remaining, but the Saints couldn't get a shot off.  With just two minutes left to play, Maloney fired a shot on net, but the Panthers defense cleared the ball.  Despite an outstanding effort, the Panthers' secured the win.

St. Lawrence University head coach Fran Grembowicz said, "We did a great job coming back tonight.  You hate to lose like that,  but it was a pretty evenly matched game."

The Saints head on the road this weekend to take on Rensselaer on Saturday, Oct. 24^th and Vassar on Sunday, Oct. 25^th.