Presidents Fall To Nazareth 2-0 In Empire 8 Field Hockey
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Nazareth scored twice in the opening 19 minutes and held on for a 2-0 Empire 8 Conference field hockey victory over Washington & Jefferson on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Stadium.
The loss bumps the Presidents (8-2, 3-2 E8) out of a first-place tie in the conference standings and also ended a three-match win streak.
The Golden Flyers (3-10, 2-3 E8), who snapped a five-game losing skid, opened the scoring 4:46 into match as Kailee O’Hara redirected Lindsey Smith’s pass off a penalty corner past W&J sophomore goalie Harley Straub (Richfield, Pa./East Juniata).
Just under 14 minutes later, Maria Martini banged home a loose ball around the goal line for the 2-0 lead. The Nazareth defense stymied the Presidents throughout the match as Shannon Winney only had to make two saves to earn the shutout. W&J outshot Nazareth overall by a 7-6 margin.
Straub made one first-half save before senior Shelby Colyer (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) took over in the second half. Colyer, who missed the first nine games due to an injury, produced one save.
The Presidents, who were shut out in the regular season for the first time in nearly two years (Oct. 18, 2009 vs. Rochester), return to action tomorrow at Cameron Stadium with a non-conference match against Wilson (1:00 pm).
