YORK, PA-The St. Mary's College Seahawks field hockey team came to York College and spoiled Fall Fest Weekend for the Spartans as they posted a 1-0 Capital Athletic Conference win on Saturday afternoon. The Seahawks improve to 5-6 overall but, most importantly, they now stand at a stellar 4-1 in the conference. York falls to 6-8 overall and finish the CAC regular season with a mark of 2-4.
    After the two teams spent the first six minutes trading possession in the middle of the field, the Spartans put together a flurry of five shots and four corners as they pressured the Seahawks. Unfortunately for York, they were unable to convert any of those chances as the game remained scoreless.
    It would not be scoreless much longer as the Seahawks gained control of momentum and spent the next four minutes playing in the Spartans' defensive zone. The Seahawks' Emily Smithson started the offensive spurt with a shot that was saved but that led to a second shot that was stopped by Veronica Eltz (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) for a defensive save. The Seahawks got a penalty corner 12:30 into the game and they got a shot from Susan Smith that was saved by Spartan goalie Claire Rekitzke (Seaford, Del./Seaford Senior). Rekitzke could not control the rebound as Smithson collected the loose ball and drilled the ball past Rekitzke for the goal which was her sixth of the year. The goal came with 22:17 remaining in the opening half.
    The two squads would go back and forth the remainder of the half with neither team having a great chance to score.
    The Spartans finished the opening 35 minutes holding a 12-10 edge in shots and a significant 9-4 edge in penalty corners.
    In the second half, the Spartans' best chance at notching the equalizer came about 10 minutes into the stanza as the green and white fired off a three-shot blitz in a seven second span. Seahawk goalie Emma Lauhoff stood tall and saved all three attempts as York could not penetrate the St. Mary's goal line.
    The Spartans got their final attempt to tie with an April McFarland (York, Pa./Eastern) shot with just under five minutes remaining but the attempt was wide of the mark as the Spartans were shutout for the second Saturday in a row.
    York finished the game holding a 20-15 edge in shots and a 13-5 margin in penalty corners.
    Lauhoff recorded the clean sheet as she made nine saves in the game. Rekitzke recorded six saves in the loss.
    York returns to action on Tuesday afternoon when they host Franklin & Marshall College in a non-conference contest at Kinsley Field. Game time is slated for 4:30 pm.

MATCH BOX

Claire Rekitzke photo courtesy of Steve Doemland