Williams Scores Twice as Field Hockey Picks Up 3-1 Victory Over St. Thomas Aquinas
Box Score SPARKILL, N.Y. (Oct. 13, 2016) – Powered by two goals from sophomore Alicia Williams (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North), the Mercy College field hockey team earned a 3-1 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College on Thursday afternoon at Spartan Field.
The Mavericks (4-8) have now won two of their last three games and sweep the season series with the Spartans (1-13) who have dropped eight games in a row.
Williams now has a team high four goals on the year, while senior Vanessa Soler (Port Monmouth, N.J./Middletown North) added her second goal of the season and an assist. Senior Jackie Ballin (Cupertino, Calif./Cupertino) contributed two assists and sophomore Kayly Bryan (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point) netted an assist of her own. Sophomore Julia Amell (Greene, N.Y./Greene) made five saves to pick up the win and improve to 3-6 on the year.
The Spartans were led by Louise Richardson who scored a goal, while Jessica Stewart made three saves to take the loss in goal.
St. Thomas Aquinas forced Amell to make the first save of the game in the 12th minute, but the Mavericks got on the board in the 13th minute when Soler scored, off a pass from Bryan, following a Ballin penalty corner to make it 1-0.
Amell made another save in the 21st minute to keep the hosts off the board before senior Olivia Anderson (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) and sophomore Angela Robbins (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) recorded shots on goal that were stopped by Stewart later in the half. The score remained 1-0 heading into halftime as St. Thomas Aquinas held a 5-3 edge in shots, while the Mavericks held a 5-2 edge in corners.
The second half saw Amell make another save in the 43rd minute before Alexandra Vippolis hit the post. The Spartans finally got on the board in the 51st minute when Richardson scored off a penalty stroke to make it 1-1.
Following a Maverick timeout later in the half, Williams recorded her first goal of the game off an assist from Soler and Ballin after another corner to give Mercy a 2-1 lead.
Williams would seal the win for the Mavericks with her second goal of the game in the 68th minute when she tipped in the ball following a Ballin shot attempt to make it 3-1.
The Spartans drew another penalty stroke in the 69th minute, but Amell stopped the attempt and Mercy held on for the victory.
St. Thomas Aquinas outshot Mercy 14-7 and held a 10-8 advantage in penalty corners.
Head Coach Deirdre O'Neill and the Mavericks look to win their second straight game when they host Bellarmine University in an ECAC matchup on Saturday, October 15th at 1 p.m.
