Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis field hockey team (4-10, 1-3 A-10) got back into the win column with a 2-1 overtime victory against Georgetown (5-10, 1-3 Big East) on Tuesday.
In a defensive stalemate, the Red Flash came out hot. Outshooting Georgetown 3-0 through the first quarter, Saint Francis scored the only goal when Livvy Webb (Easton, Md./Saints Peter and Paul) found Abby Romig (Honey Brook, Pa./Twin Valley), who then beat the goalkeeper for the 1-0 lead.
The next two quarters were all defense. In the second quarter, shots were 4-3 Georgetown, but saves on each end of the field kept the score 1-0 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Georgetown attempted a barrage of shots, but none beat redshirt senior goalkeeper Claudia Marzec (Whitinsville, Mass./Moses Brown School), who made four of her 12 saves in the third. The score stayed 1-0 heading into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, the Red Flash defense continued to step up, stopping plenty of penalty corners by the Hoyas and handling heavy pressure. Midway through the quarter, though, Jax Van Der Veen scored for Georgetown by rebounding a loose ball at the net and tying the match 1-1.
In the overtime period, Marzec also made four of her 12 saves. Then, with just over four minutes remaining in the first overtime, Abby Romig (Honey Brook, Pa./Twin Valley) took the ball through and past defenders, ending up just right of the net. Her pass, sent across the front of the net, ended up with Taylor Nesmith (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley), who buried the shot, giving Saint Francis the 2-1 win.
"We have been playing good defense lately but we were having trouble getting the ball up the field and executing the offense, but today we showed that we can do that and score tough goals of our own and that's great," goalkeeper Claudia Marzec (Whitinsville, Mass./Moses Brown School) noted.
"I know we lost to Saint Joe's, 7-2, but the energy we had in that game and today have been awesome. Everyone was working hard for every single ball and now we need to go into the UMass game wanting it more than them."
Marzec stopped 12 shots on the day for her fourth highest total of the season.
Nesmith's goal gives her seven on the year and 16 total points.
Romig's goal and assist give her five points this season, tying her single-season best.
Webb captured her third assist of the season and now has five points, adding to her career-high single season points.
Up next for the Red Flash is an A-10 matchup with UMass on Sunday at DeGol Field.
