Field Hockey Suffers 2-1 OT Loss to York

YORK, PA-  Juniata College's field hockey team traveled to York and suffered another overtime defeat as it fell to the Spartans 2-1 earlier today. Both teams entered the contest looking to rebound from tough loses as Juniata fell 3-2 to #14 Messiah in overtime at home last Saturday and the Spartans were shutout 4-0 at Dickinson on Wednesday.

The Eagles were on the offensive early with Kortney Showers (Aspers, PA/Biglerville) and Allison Groft (Hanover, PA/ South Western) both having shots blocked off of a corner from Sarah Bilheimer (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) about a minute into the game. Two minutes later, the Blue and Gold just missed another chance to score on a corner. Bilheimer had shots saved and then blocked at around the six-minute mark.

The Spartans scored first as they struck nearly 13 minutes into the contest as freshman Ali Posey maneuvered in front of the cage to score her sixth goal of the season. Juniata was able to tie it up 30 minutes in when Groft tapped in a shot from Tori Buser (Allentown, PA/Parkland) off of a Bilheimer corner.

The Eagles had chances to take the lead in the second half with both Showers and Buser almost scoring on a corner late in regulation. Juniata had a corner just before the end of the half but was unable to put the game away.

A minute into overtime, the Blue and Gold nearly scored as Bilheimer, Groft, and then Bilheimer again each had shots saved. Shortly after, Showers had a shot blocked on a Juniata corner. The Eagles would not get another chance to score as Holly Martin scored her third goal of the season to win the game for the Spartans.

Each team totaled 10 shots on goal with Juniata outshooting York 16-11 overall. Shelby Miller (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) and Julianne Jones (Middleburg, PA/Midd-West) both saw time in the cage for the Eagles with Jones registering 8 saves between the pipes.

Juniata is now 2-2 on the season and will return to action next Wednesday at Bridgewater. Game time with be at 6 pm.