YORK, PA – The eighth ranked York College field hockey squad got back on the winning side of the ledger with a 5-0 win in their MAC Commonwealth opener against Alvernia.
The five goals were a season high for the Spartans as they notched their fifth shutout of the year. Junior Maggie Spadafora scored twice for the Spartans to lead the offense.
The Spartans improve to 9-2 overall and 1-0 in the league while the Golden Wolves fall to 4-7 and 0-1 in conference play.
 
How It Happened
• The first quarter was a little slow getting going in the first five minutes before the Spartans picked up their play and started pressuring Alvernia. The Spartans got four shots and a trio of penalty corners in the final ten minutes of the quarter but that didn't result in any scoring for York. Alvernia had a 15 second flurry to end the quarter as they had two corners and a pair of shots but the quarter ended up scoreless.
• The Golden Wolves started out the second quarter with another push as they had three shots in the first 1:26 of the period. Fortunately for York, goalie Belle Fields registered a pair of saves to keep Alvernia off the board. York got their fifth corner of the game 3:41 into the quarter and they cashed in on the opportunity. Riley Buschert inserted the corner to Maycee Collison who ripped a pass to Katie Martino. Martino finished the chance for her seventh goal of the year and the 1-0 Spartan lead.
• York kept the pressure on the Golden Wolves with two more corners and two more shots over the next two minutes. Senior Sara Pique created another goal scoring chance as she slid a pass across the circle to Maggie Spadafora who knocked the pass home for a 2-0 Spartan lead with 6:47 left in the quarter. The Spartans capped their highest scoring quarter of the year with an unassisted Pique tally 2:27 later as she found herself in the middle of the circle all alone. Pique cracked a backhanded shot that found the back of the cage for her first goal of the year.
• Freshman Olivia Miller added to the lead 5:59 into the third quarter as she notched an unassisted goal for her fourth tally of the year. The Spartan defense was solid in quarter as they held Alvernia without a shot in the period.
• The Green and White capped the scoring 45 seconds into the fourth period as Miller found Spadafora for her second goal of the year. The York defense again contained Alvernia in the fourth quarter as they didn't allow a shot. For the game, the Spartans out-shot the Golden Wolves 20-5 overall and 11-3 in shots on goal. The Spartans also held a 16-2 bulge in penalty corners.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans improve to 11-7 all-time against Alvernia as they have won four straight in the series … York's five goals was a season high and the three goals in the second period was their highest scoring period of the year … the shut out for the Spartan defense was their fifth of the year … Alvernia's five shots marked the seventh time this year that the Spartans have held an opponent to six shots or less in a game … junior Maggie Spadafora found the back of the cage twice for her first two goals of the year while senior Sara Pique also recorded her first goal of the season … York now has ten players who have scored a goal for the Spartans while they have nine players who have dished out at least one assist … junior goalie Belle Fields improves to 9-2 with five shutouts for the year … She lowered her goals against average to 0.64 while her save percentage rises to .825 … Fields finished the game with three saves … freshman Olivia Miller has scored in three of the last four games as she had three points against Misericordia and then three more on Saturday.
 
Up Next
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday night as they host Hood College in a MAC Commonwealth contest. The match is set for a 6:00 pm start at Kinsley Field.