YORK, PA – The ninth ranked York College field hockey team suffered another tough overtime decision for the second straight Saturday. The Spartans watched #20 Messiah score with 45 seconds left in regulation to tie the game then the Falcons scored 1:30 into overtime to win the game.
York is now 10-5 overall and 1-2 in the Commonwealth. The Falcons improve to 3-0 in the league and 9-4 overall. York has lost in overtime in each of their last two Saturday home games after York opened the year 5-0 at home.
 
How It Happened
• The first quarter was played in the middle of the field as the teams went back and forth. Messiah put a soft shot on goal that was saved by Belle Fields while York got a Kelbie Linebaugh attempted that went wide. That was the extend of the offense in the opening quarter.
•The Falcons had the better of the play in the second quarter as they out shot York 3-0 in the stanza. The first and second shots created a Falcon scoring opportunity. Messiah earned a penalty corner and Teagan Murrie unleashed a shot that was saved by Fields. Unfortunately for York, the rebound leaked into the circle where Ellie Lefever poked home the rebound for the 1-0 Falcon lead. The goal was Lefever's fourth of the year.
• While the Falcons dominated the second quarter, York came flying out of the halftime intermission. The Spartans drew a corner less than a minute into the third period. They then had a three-shot flurry with two of the shots being blocked and one being saved. The Spartans kept the ball down in the Falcon defensive zone and finally tied the game 4:01 into the stanza. Senior Riley Buschert collected a loose ball outside the circle. She flipped a pass to Tori Heiserman who completed the play with her sixth goal of the year.
• Six minutes after the goal, the Spartans put another flurry together. They drew four penalty corners with three coming in a span of less than two minutes. York took the lead on the last corner as Emma Fowler hit a ball towards the cage that Linebaugh finished off for her fourth goal of the year. The Spartans outshot Messiah 10-0 in the third quarter but would only be able to put home two chances.
• The Falcons flipped the script in the fourth as they spent almost all of the 15-minute period in the Spartans defensive third. Fields made four saves in the first 14 minutes of the half. York would not be as lucky in the last minute of regulation. Fields made a save on an Audrey Weger shot but again, the rebound trickled back into the circle. Weger grabbed the rebound and slipped a pass to Murrie who finished off the chance, tying the game with 45 seconds left in the game. The goal was Murrie's fifth of the campaign. The Falcons got three more penalty corners and made Fields make three shots in the last 45 seconds as the teams headed to overtime.
• The Falcons won the game 1:30 into the overtime as Messiah had a break away. Hailey Worner put the initial shot on goal which was saved by Fields but another rebound led to Leah Bryner's game-winner.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans have now lost 12 straight against the Falcons with three of the last five being one goal decisions including two overtime games … both overtime games came in York … York is now 4-18-3 all-time against the Falcons … Messiah outshot York 16-11 including 14-4 in shots on goal … Messiah had a 7-5 edge in penalty corners … the Falcons' 14 shots on goal tied the season high that the Spartans surrendered at #6 Christopher Newport … the Falcons three goals are the most allowed by the Spartans this year … the game was very clean as there were no cards in the match … senior goalie Belle Fields tied a career-high with 11 saves, a mark she last reached on October 12, 2022 against Messiah … the goals snapped a four-game streak of shutout hockey for Fields … sophomore Tori Heiserman scored her third goal in the last two games after getting a pair of tallies against Widener on Wednesday … senior Riley Buschert recorded her 22^nd point of the year with the assist on Heiserman's goal … Kelbie Linebaugh earned her fourth collegiate goal as sophomore Emma Fowler picked up her second assist of the season and of her career.
 
Up Next
The Spartans head out on the road on Wednesday as they head to Reading, PA to face the Alvernia University Golden Wolves. Game time in Reading is set for 4:00 pm