No. 5 Field Hockey Wins 4-3 Double OT Thriller Over Merrimack
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Oct. 6, 2013) - Senior forward Carlee Dragon (Bridgewater, N.J.) scored a game-high three goals, leading the No. 5 LIU Post field hockey team to a 4-3 double-overtime victory against Merrimack at Hickox Field, and in the process, set a new program record for goals scored in a career.
The Pioneers improve to 9-0 with the win, including a 4-0 clip in Northeast-10 action, while the Warriors dip to 6-4 on the season, and 2-1 in conference play.
Just 1:28 into the second overtime, the Pioneers were granted a penalty corner. Sophomore Keliann Margiotta (Sewell, N.J.) took the corner, and passed the ball to the top of the circle to graduate Dani Crouse (Westville, South Africa), who found Dragon on her left. Dragon buried the game-winner into the lower left corner of the cage to secure the win.
Prior to the game reaching overtime, the two squads battled back-and-forth on the scoreboard. Merrimack was first to strike, as Maura Doyle tapped a tally into the lower left corner of the net past the Pioneer defense in the ninth minute of play. Margiotta answered back in the 15th minute, when Dragon took a hard shot from the top of the circle with Margiotta re-directing the shot past the Warrior goalie.
The duo teamed up again in the 24th minute, this time with Dragon doing the scoring. Margiotta passed to Dragon at the top of the circle off a penalty corner, and Dragon drilled the pass into the goal. However, with less than four minutes to play in the first, the Warriors' Christine Zubkus grabbed a rebound off her teammate Kaitlin McCauley's shot and found the back of the cage to tie the game (2-2).
Margiotta once again assisted Dragon in the second half, this time a pass across the front of the cage found Dragon, who finished into the lower left corner of the cage. The Warriors would not go down without a fight, though, as Candace Waldie corralled a pass from Abbey Stacy in front of the net during a scramble and managed to cross the shot into the goal.
Freshman Ericka Parks (Nesconset, N.Y.) improved to 6-0 in goal, making five saves, while her counterpart, Madison Davis of Merrimack, made eight saves and dropped to 5-2 in between the pipes.
For the contest, the Pioneers outshot the Warriors by a margin of 26-10, including a 10-5 count in the two overtimes. Merrimack held a 13-10 clip in penalty corners.
The Pioneers return to action Wednesday (Oct. 9), as they take on Southern Connecticut State in New Haven, Conn., with play slated to start at 7 p.m.