ST. MARY'S CITY, MD – The York College field hockey squad remained red hot with a 4-2 Capital Athletic Conference win at St. Mary's College in St. Mary's City, MD on a dreary Saturday afternoon. The Spartans improve to 12-6 overall and 4-2 in the CAC while the Seahawks fall to 8-6 overall and 2-4 in the league.

The Spartans jumped on the hosts early as York earned a penalty corner just 45 seconds into the game. The Spartans didn't get a goal on the first corner but on their third corner of the match, freshman Sandee Reich (Pitman, N.J./Glassboro) tallied her fourth goal of the year off a deflection from Katie Dawkins (Easton, Md./Easton) just 4:54 into the game.

That goal seemed to wake up the hosts as they became the aggressor. St. Mary's carried the play over the next 15 minutes as they registered six of the game's next seven shots. Fortunately for York, senior goalkeeper Claire Rekitzke (Seaford, Del./Seaford Senior) was up to the task as she notched six saves during the Seahawk flurry.

The Spartans pushed their lead to 2-0 just before the break as Allison Roush (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) collected a loose ball and drilled a shot into the left corner for the tally. The goal was her 11^th of the year and came in the game's 31^st minute.

St. Mary's came out of the half and almost immediately trimmed their deficit in half courtesy of a Lauriann Parker goal off a blocked shot in the games' 41^st minute.

It took the Spartans just 2:01 to respond as Reich fed Dawkins with a beautiful through pass that Dawkins deposited in the back of the goal for her team-leading 15^th tally of the year.

Casey Lawrence (Abbottstown, Pa./Delone Catholic) capped the Spartan scoring with less than nine minutes left in the game as she collected a loose ball off a rebound and drove the ball home for her fifth tally of the year.  

The Seahawks closed out the scoring with less than five minutes remaining as Brooke Masimore scored off a Parker pass, providing for the Spartans' final margin of victory.

Rekitzke was again outstanding as the senior made nine saves in her 70 minutes of work. Seahawk goalie Emma Lauhoff made four saves for the hosts

St. Mary's outshot the Spartans 15-13 for the game while York held a 10-8 margin in penalty corners.

The four CAC wins for the Spartans are the most since the 1997 season when York went 4-1 and finished second in the CAC. York has locked into either the third or fourth seed in the upcoming tournament, which starts for York on Sunday, November 1 at Kinsley Field against an opponent to be determined.

The Spartans return to action on Monday afternoon when they host Gwynedd-Mercy College in a non-conference contest. Game time at Kinsley Field is set for 3:00 pm.

MATCH BOX

Sandee Reich photo by Scott Guise