YORK, PA – The eighth-ranked York College Spartans dropped their third straight game to a top five team as #5 Middlebury outlasted the Spartans 7-6 in a top ten showdown in York on Wednesday. All four of the Spartan losses this year have come to nationally ranked teams and three of the four are one goal losses.
Game #9
Final Score: #8 York (Pa.) 6, #5 Middlebury 7
Records: York (Pa.) 5-4, Middlebury 6-1
Shots: York 21, Middlebury 24
Shots on Goal: York 17, Middlebury 17
Ground Balls: York 20, Middlebury 18
Turnovers: York 19, Middlebury 17
Clears: York 22-for-25, Middlebury 17-for-21
Draw Controls: York 8, Middlebury 7
Free Position Shots: York 1-for-4, Middlebury 3-for-8
Saves: York 10, Middlebury 11
Fouls: York 36, Middlebury 16
How It Happened:
• The Spartans opened the scoring 9:05 into the game as Regan Cook found the back of the net for the 1-0 Spartan lead. The Panther defense would lock York down and the Middlebury offense got going. The Panthers scored four goals in a ten-minute stretch as the seized control of the game with a 4-1 lead. Three of the four goals came on free position shots as Middlebury looked poised to blow the Spartans out. The Spartans battled back and York got a little momentum back heading to the half as junior Meghan Fox scored off a Devin Hursey pass to trim York's deficit to two just before the intermission.
• Turnovers hurt York in the first half as they committed 11 miscues. Middlebury outshot the Spartans 14-9 but senior Abby Smith registered six first half saves to keep the Spartans in the contest.
• Middlebury scored two of the first three goals of the half to take a 6-3 lead with 20:22 remaining in the game. The Spartans got back into the game as they ripped off three straight goals to tie the game at six with 5:04 left in regulation. Freshman Chloe MacDonald started the run with a goal off a Cook pass at the 19:08 mark. Cook then followed with goals with 10:08 left in the game followed by the game-tying goal with 5:04 remaining.
• The Panthers got the game winner just 37 seconds later. Emily Barnard won the draw and eventually fed Casey O'Neill for the game winner. The shot took a funny hop and found the back of the net for the Panthers.
• York had a chance to win the game with an extended final possession. The Spartans got a shot from Hursey with 1:45 that was saved. York got the ground ball and a shot from MacDonald was again turned away. Celly Arthur picked up the ground ball off the save and her shot was stopped with 39 seconds left. Cook picked up the ground ball but the Spartans would eventually turn the ball over and Middlebury killed the remaining 20 seconds on the clock to pick up the big road win.
Spartan Leaders:
Regan Cook: 3 goals, 1 assist, 3 ground balls
Meghan Fox: 2 goals, 1-for-3 FPS, 2 caused turnovers
Chloe MacDonald: 1 goal, 1 ground ball
Devin Hursey: 2 assists, 1 ground ball, 1 caused turnover
Claudia DiVenti: 4 draw controls, 2 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
Panther Leaders:
Grace Getman: 2 goals, 1 ground ball, 1-for-1 FPS
Casey O'Neill: 2 goals, 1 ground ball
Emma McDonagh: 2 goals, 1-for-3 FPS, 1 caused turnover
Erica Barr: 2 ground balls, 2 draw controls, 2 caused turnovers
Addy Mitchell: 3 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers
Goalie Comparison
Abby Smith (YCP): 60:00 minutes played, 7 goals allowed, 10 saves (Loss, 5-4)
Julia Keith (MC): 60:00 minutes played, 6 goals against, 11 saves (Win, 4-1)
Notes:
The Spartans fall to 0-3 all-time against Middlebury with two of the three losses coming by one goal and two of the three losses coming in the NCAA Tournament … the Spartans have lost three straight for the first time since 2009 when they dropped four in a row starting on March 10 and ending on March 21, 2009 … that's a span of 184 games without a three game losing streak … the Spartans' six goals was their lowest total of the year and snapped a 19 game streak of double figure scoring games … York won eight draw controls and that was their lowest total of the season … the seven goals allowed marked the fourth time this season that the Spartans held their opponents below double figures in goals … York put 17 of their 21 shots on goal for a season-high 81% on-target mark … Meghan Fox and Regan Cook continue to be a formidable one-two offensive punch for York … Fox leads the Spartans with 39 points on 33 goals and six assists while Cook has 29 points on 23 goals and six assists … Devin Hursey leads the Green and White with 17 assists while she is right behind Cook with 28 points … York has seven players in double figures in points … senior Abby Smith notched double figures in saves for the third time this year as she made 10 stops and had a .588 save percentage in the game.
Up Next
The Spartans head out on the road to open Capital Athletic Conference play as the Spartans will travel to Newport News to face the Christopher Newport Captains on Saturday. The first draw is set for 2:00 pm.