No. 5 Thoroughbreds Top Saints 2-0 on “Senior Day”

by: 

Tara Freeman

Erika Swits '12 was one of the six seniors honored following the Skidmore game.

Oct. 8: The St. Lawrence University field hockey team dropped a Liberty League contest to nationally-ranked No. 5 Skidmore College on Saturday by the score of 2-0 at Hall-Leet Stadium.  The Thoroughbreds scored two first half goals and used constant offensive pressure to defeat the Scarlet and Brown on "Senior Day."

With the victory, Skidmore improves to 10-1 overall and remain unbeaten in the league at 4-0.  St. Lawrence falls to 7-5 and is now 1-2 in the conference.

The Thoroughbreds controlled the majority of the offense throughout the game, but especially in the first half where the visitors outshot St. Lawrence 15-2.  Only 1:16 into the first half, Skidmore took a 1-0 lead on Kelly Blackhurst's 13th goal of the year.  Annie Rosencrans centered the ball in front of St. Lawrence goalie Nicole Matos where Blackhurst was able to slap the ball into the cage for an early lead.

Skidmore would strike again at 18:46 on a pretty goal by Ceilidh MacNeill to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.  Sam Skott sent a pass in front to MacNeill, who re-directed the ball beautifully past Matos for her fifth goal of the campaign to cap the game's scoring.

St. Lawrence would have several quality chances in the second half, including a pair of penalty corners, but were unable to solve Skidmore goalie Haley McDougall.  Matos made several excellent stops to keep her team in the game, but St. Lawrence would eventually fall by the 2-0 margin.

Matos closed with 14 saves in the game, while McDougall made four stops.  Skidmore held a 22-7 advantage in shots and a 12-3 advantage in penalty corners.

Following the game, a brief ceremony was held to honor the six members of the field hockey team's Class of 2012, including Julia Croyle, Emily Riley, Taylor Vogt, Erika Swits, Caroline Buskey and Brittany Clark.

The Saints will be in action again next Saturday, October 15 when the team travels to Troy, NY to take on Rensselaer at 3:00pm.