STOCKTON, Calif. – A down-to-the-wire game went the way of the 13th-ranked Cardinal field hockey team as it topped UMass Lowell 3-2 in the America East semifinals Thursday afternoon at the Pacific Field Hockey Turf.
The first half opened up fairly even-keeled for the first ten minutes of action before the River Hawks (8-12) struck first with a peppering of three straight shots and a rebound that they put away to make it 1-0 in the 11th minute. Fran Tew continued on her tear in the 14th minute pushing her scoring streak to five games with a rebound goal off a penalty corner to make it 1-1.
The Cardinal (13-5) kept the pressure up, outshooting UML nine-to-seven in the half with an interception by Jordan Barry leading to a perfect set-up to Marissa Cicione in the circle to make it 2-1 with just over six minutes remaining in the half. Rebounds still proved to be the Achilles heel for the Cardinal as the River Hawks were awarded their first penalty corner of the game with 3:40 remaining that Christa Doiron put in off the rebound of the first save by Kelsey Bing to make it 2-2 headed into the break.
The second half saw the Cardinal start off down one after Jordan Barry's green card with 42 seconds remaining in the first half, but the Cardinal defense and penalty kill was on point in the half, stymieing a pushing River Hawk offensive attack. UML added six shots in the half, but an amazing save by Kelsey Bing kept it 2-2.
The Cardinal offense started surging in the latter part of the period, as it crushed 11 shots at the River Hawks, putting UML's Kelsey Federico to the test to make five of her nine saves in the half. It came down to the last three minutes when the Cardinal forced two penalty corners that paid off as Kennedy Schumacher and Emma Christus set up a goal by Katie Keyser to make it 3-2 and send the Cardinal to its second America East semifinal.
Stanford awaits to find out its opponent after tomorrow's quarterfinal match-up of Cal vs. Maine. The Cardinal will take on the Golden Bears or the Black Bears Saturday at noon at the Pacific Field Hockey Turf in Stockton, Calif.