YORK, PA – The York College field hockey squad threw a scare into second ranked Salisbury University early in Saturday's Capital Athletic Conference contest in York. The Spartans scored 18 seconds into the game, but ultimately, the seasoned Sea Gulls pulled out a 2-1 victory as the Spartans' five match win streak came to an end.

With the loss, the Spartans fall to 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the CAC while the Sea Gulls improve to 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the CAC.

The Spartans surprised the Gulls early as Megan Spangler (Myerstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon County) stole the ball from a Sea Gull defender, crossed the it to Allison Roush (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) who pushed the ball towards the goal. Junior Katie Dawkins (Easton, Md./Easton) banged the ball home for the early lead. The goal came just 18 seconds into the game and gave the Spartans the 1-0 lead. The tally was Dawkins' team-leading 11 goal of the year.

The Sea Gulls collected themselves after the goal and began to take the play to the Green and White. Salisbury fired off four shots in the next seven minutes with two penalty corners. The visitors found pay dirt in the tenth minute of the game as the Gulls had a 4-on-1 break. Caitlin Walker played a hard cross inside the box to Lauren Correll. When Correll, the Sea Gulls leading scorer received the pass, she knew what to do as she tucked the ball inside the back post for the game-tying goal.

The Sea Gulls continued to pressure the Spartans but York goalie Claire Rekitzke (Seaford, Del./Seaford Senior) played an outstanding contest. Correll had a break away in the 15^th minute but Rekitzke stoned the senior standout with an outstanding save.

The nationally ranked Gulls capitalized on their next opportunity when Katie Frost carried the ball in transition into the circle where she ripped a hard low shot that snuck inside Rekitzke for the eventual game-winning goal.

The Sea Gulls continued to take the play to the Green and White but Rekitzke came up big as she finished with six first half saves. Salisbury outshot the Spartans 12-1 in the first half while they also had seven corners in the match.

The Spartans continued to face the Salisbury onslaught, but again, Rekitzke stood tall in the cage as the senior recorded six second half saves in keeping the potent Salisbury attack off the board. The Sea Gulls entered the match averaging over five goals per game as Rekitzke kept the visitors three under their per game average. 

Salisbury finished the match holding a 19-1 bulge in shots and a 14-1 margin in shots on goal. The Gulls recorded 13 penalty corners in the match while the Spartans were not awarded any during the course of the game.

Rekitzke notched 12 saves in the hard-fought loss while Anna Cooke did not make a save in her 70 minutes in cage for the Sea Gulls.

Spartan head coach Jamie Swartz was happy with the performance of her team.

“I thought we came out strong today,” stated Swartz. “We played very hard and I was happy with our effort against a strong and talented team.  We know that we still have more work to do to get to where we want to be.”

The one goal difference in the game is the closest the decision against the Salisbury since September 30, 2000 when the Gulls posted a 4-3 win over the Spartans in Salisbury, MD. York has never beaten Salisbury in CAC play since the Gulls joined the conference in 1995.

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday, October 6 when they travel to Dickinson College to face the Red Devils. Game time in Carlisle is set for 4:00 pm. 

GAME BOX