Price Scores as Field Hockey Narrowly Drops Defensive Battle With #3 Warriors

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Field Hockey team put up a valiant fight in a narrow 2-1 overtime loss to No. 3 East Stroudsburg on Saturday.
 
In front of an excited Homecoming Weekend crowd, FSU looked to rebound from their 5-1 loss to the Warriors just a few weeks earlier. The early minutes featured little in the way of chances, as the Bobcats were the first to put together some consistent attacking play, earning back-to-back corners six minutes in. On the latter, sophomore Emma Price was the one to insert, as the ball worked its way to junior Paige Leitzel at the edge of the arc, firing a ball onto Price's stick and into the back of the cage for a 1-0 lead.
 
Two and a half minutes later, Leitzel nearly scored herself on a backhanded effort, but could only put her shot high. Just before four-minute mark, ESU was awarded their own corner following a save by junior Zoe Barnes, which they swung around to the right side for Kerry Kaufman, putting her shot through a few bodies in front of net and sneaking into the near post, as the first ended in a 1-1 tie.
 
Neither side seemed to have the upper hand over the next two periods, as East Stroudsburg put one shot wide in the second, the only shot for either team in the entire 15 minutes to take things into the half. The third featured a similar story line, with the biggest change being both teams changing goalkeepers for the second half. Frostburg had a slew of chances to net their second goal, winning four late corners, where graduate Zoe Reading had a shot saved, senior Olivia Wenzel put an effort just wide, then thought she scored off a pass from sophomore Mikyla Rineer, but the whistle had blown prior to the ball going in, keeping things at 1-1.
 
ESU earned an early corner to start the fourth but were whistled for a foul as FSU's defense held firm. The Bobcats were shown a green card with just over five minutes in regulation, as the Warriors nearly capitalized after a corner, but the shot was blocked before reaching the goal. Despite some late pressure from both teams, neither could get another shot away, taking the game into overtime.
 
Not wasting much time, East Stroudsburg took just 42 seconds to make their way down the field for Kaufman to score her second of the game and the winning goal for the 2-1 victory.
 
In a defensive battle, ESU held a narrow 6-4 advantage in shots, with four on goal to FSU's two, while the Bobcats had seven corners to the Warriors' three.
 
With the loss, Frostburg drops to 4-9 on the year, while East Stroudsburg improves to 13-2. FSU continues their Homecoming Weekend homestand with a 4 p.m. match against D'Youville on Sunday, October 20, where it will be Senior Day in Bobcat Stadium. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.