CARLISLE, Pa. - The Dickinson field hockey team continued to strengthen their hold on a potential postseason berth on Wednesday afternoon by bringing down the visiting Gettysburg College Bullets by a final score of 3-1 at the Biddle Field Complex in Centennial Conference action.
The visitors had the early offensive momentum as inside the first five minutes both Olivia Regan and Morgan Cherry had chances knocked down by the DC defense. Then, in the sixth-minute, Dickinson finally applied some pressure earning two corners leading to offerings from
Alexandra Hockwitt,
Abby Marthins and
Nicole Uebele, but none of them tested Bullets goalie Emilia Saccento. However, the Devils would eventually crack the board in the 14th-minute when a corner played in by Marthins came to
Sammi Moonay who had her shot blocked by the defense. Fortunately, the ball ricocheted out to Marthins who was denied once by Saccento, before pouncing on her own rebound and putting it into the cage for the 1-0 lead. Dickinson was not done though as a penalty stroke was awarded with just 15-seconds left in the period, which allowed for
Becca Woods to fire the rock home making it 2-0 after one.
Two minutes into the second Uebele let two shots head towards goal, but neither of them forced a stop out of the keeper. However, Gettysburg did cut into the deficit with 20 minutes off the clock when Gaby Markunas picked up the ball around midfield and carried down the left side entering the circle and ripped a shot past
Taylor Schlein to trip the gap to 2-1. The Bullets then tried to ride the momentum of the goal to another one as they earned four corners, but tallied just one shot over the final ten minutes to send the match to the break.
Martins tried to add onto the Devils advantage early in the third, unfortunately Saccento was there to deny both chances. Gettysburg was then granted a huge opportunity with 37:06 off the clock as a yellow card given to
Morgan Yandow-Harding put the Bullets a player-up for five minutes. During that stretch the Red and White's defense was stellar as they did not surrender a single shot which allowed the game to head to the fourth still at 2-1.
The final period began with the visitors desperately chasing the game-tying goal with both Bella Bonazinga and Olivia Regan being told "NO" by Schlein, while Andie Aloi missed the target all within the first six minutes. Then, with 52:27 gone the Devils went up 3-1 as
Sophia Pereira played a corner to the top of the circle for
Malena Malka Goldman who wound up and let a shot fly towards cage that was deflected by Uebele between Saccento's legs for the massive insurance goal. Uebele went in search of her second with over six minutes left, but the goalie was there for the stop to close out the 3-1 final.
Red Devil Leaders
Goals - Marthins, Uebele and Woods (1)
Shots - Marthins and Uebele (5)
Saves - Schlein (3)
Bullet Leaders
Goals - Markunas (1)
Shots - Regan (3), Bonazinga and Cherry (2)
Saves - Saccento (4)
Postseason Outlook
Dickinson currently holds the fourth of six spots in the Centennial Conference playoff picture with three conference games remaining against #25 Ursinus (away), #3 Johns Hopkins (away) and Muhlenberg (home).
Next on the Pitch
The Devils (7-6, 5-2 Centennial) can put themselves in great shape for a postseason slot on Saturday afternoon when they head to Collegeville, Pennsylvania for a pivotal Centennial Conference clash against 25th-ranked Ursinus College at high noon.
