The field hockey team couldn’t recover from a slow start, as they dropped their second straight game yesterday, losing 2-1 to SUNY-Oneonta (6—2).
The Bombers came out flat and fell behind early to a strong Red Dragons team. Oneonta junior midfielder Ashley Morgan scored a pair of goals in the first half — one in the seventh minute and another in the 21st minute — to give the Red Dragons a 2-0 halftime lead.
The Blue and Gold came out with much more purpose after the break, and outshot Oneonta 16-8 in the second half. Sophomore defender Emily Lash scored Ithaca’s lone goal with 9:53 remaining in the game.
Junior goalkeeper Kelly Singleton had another solid game in net, and kept the Bombers alive with several timely saves. Singleton recorded 14 saves for her seventh straight game with ten saves or more.
The South Hill Squad applied lots of pressure in the closing minutes, but could not cash in scoring opportunities. Junior midfielder Abbey Lind said her team struggled with set plays for the second straight game.
“We had 14 corners today and we didn’t score on any of them,” Lind said. “We’ve got to get the ball in. Those should be easy goals.”
Junior forward Julia Conroy said the team’s troubles on the offensive end led to laziness in transition defense as well. She said the Bombers are eager to get back on the field to face Empire 8 Conference foe Stevens Institute of Technology this weekend.
“We are going to go so hard on Saturday,” Conroy said. “Stevens is our biggest rival and we don’t like them very much. So we have these past two games to think about, and now we’re putting them behind us and we’re just going to go crazy.”
The loss dropped the Bombers’ overall record to 2—5 (1—1 Empire 8). Though they remain just one game behind Utica College in the Empire 8 Conference standings, sophomore midfielder Katie Kennedy said the team’s upcoming matchup with the Ducks could hold significant implications for the rest of the season.
“We’re taking it one game at a time, but in reality we have to beat Stevens,” Kennedy said. “We have to win in order to secure a spot in the postseason and host a game in the E-8 tournament.”
Ithaca will close their four-game homestand against the Ducks at 1 p.m. Saturday at Higgins Stadium.
