Field Hockey Shocks #6 East Stroudsburg in OT, Daugherty Pots Game-Winner
EAST STROUDSBURG, PA – Junior April Daugherty (Wakefield, RI) tallied her second goal of the game two minutes into overtime to give the Merrimack field hockey team its first win of the season, a 3-2 upset-victory over No. 6 East Stroudsburg. The visiting Warriors improve to 1-1 on the year while the home Warriors fell to 1-1.
For the second-straight contest, Candice Waldie (North Andover, MA) opened the game's scoring with a goal 14:38 into play. Waldie notched her second goal of the campaign off of a pass from Daugherty to give Merrimack a 1-0 advantage.
The visitors owned a 1-0 lead at the break despite being outshot 24-4 in the half. Merrimack goalie Kerri Bergquist (Mashpee, MA) turned aside all 12 shots on goal that she faced in the opening stanza.
East Stroudsburg knotted the score at 1-1 early in the second half as Mallory Pope scored from a penalty corner.
Daugherty gave Merrimack its second one-goal edge of the day as she found the back of the cage 16 minutes into the second period.
Lauren Ventrella tied the game with 16:23 remaining in regulation off of a feed from Devin Whalen.
At the end of 70 minutes of play, East Stroudsburg held a 44-9 advantage in shots as well as a28-5 margin in penalty corners.
In overtime, Daugherty picked up a rebound and dribbled to the center of the penalty area before ripping a shot into the lower left side of the goal, stunning the No. 6 Warriors.
In the extra period, Merrimack recorded three shots while allowing zero.
Bergquist finished the game with 21 saves for Merrimack to pick up the victory. Maureen Ordnung stopped four shots for East Stroudsburg on the afternoon.
"Our mental composure was superb and we never let up," said head coach Anne Rounce. "It was a great team effort from defense to offense. We showed our tenacity and determination today. We are very pleased with the team victory."
Up next, the Warriors return to North Andover to take on No. 10 Bentley in the 2011 home opener September 8 at 7:00 pm.
