YORK, PA – The York College field hockey team continued their strong play with a 3-1 non-conference win over Neumann University on a sun-splashed Monday afternoon in York. The Spartans, winners of nine of their last 11, improve to 11-6 overall while the Knights fall to 6-6 with the setback.

Both team had sporadic opportunities early in the game but none of those chances produced goals, as the contest was scoreless through the first 23 minutes of the match. York had a golden opportunity with 9:40 remaining in the half as Katie Dawkins (Easton, Md./Easton) drove a pass from the end line to the front of the cage where Sandee Reich (Pitman, N.J./Glassboro) blasted a shot that veered just wide of the cage.

The Spartans broke the tie just 3:01 later as Alison Roush (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) drove home a Casey Lawrence (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) pass off a corner to give the Spartans the 1-0 lead.

Roush struck again with just 1:02 remaining in the opening half as Lawrence played the ball into Reich in the circle. The freshman then deftly slid a pass to Roush who put the ball inside the right post for the goal, her 10th goal of the season.

The Spartans pushed the lead to 3-0 with just under 13 minutes remaining in the game as defender Becky Reeves (Forest Hill, Md./North Harford) tallied her first goal of the year. The goal came when the Spartans had a corner that resulted in a Roush shot. The Knights cleared Roush's shot off the line but the clear came directly to the stick of Reeves. Reeves calmly settled the ball and drove it inside the right post for the tally.

Neumann broke up the shutout with less than seven minutes remaining in the game as Melissa Hood got a rebound goal off a Claire Rekitzke (Seaford, Del./Seaford Senior) save. The goal was Hood's fourth of the campaign.

Rekitzke ended the game with three saves as she picked up her 11^th win of the campaign. Sarah Alphin recorded five saves for the Knights in her 70 minutes of action.

York finished the contest holding a 20-9 edge in total shots and 10-5 in shots on goal. York amassed 15 corners to just three for Neumann.

The Spartans conclude conference play on Saturday as they travel to St. Mary's College to face the Seahawks in a key league contest. Game time in St. Mary's City, Md is set for 1:00 pm.

MATCH BOX

Allison Roush photo by Scott Guise