Amell Makes Season-High 13 Saves as Field Hockey Hosts American International
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 14, 2016) – Despite a season high 13 saves from sophomore Julia Amell (Greene, N.Y./Greene), the Mercy College field hockey dropped a hard-fought 1-0 decision in overtime to American International College on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (1-2) drop their first home game of the year, while the Yellow Jackets (4-1) have won two in a row.
Leading Mercy offensively was senior Vanessa Soler (Port Monmouth, N.J./Middletown North) who had a team high two shots on goal, while seniors Jackie Ballin (Cupertino, Calif./Cupertino) and Olivia Anderson (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) each added a shot on goal. Junior Rachel Gumowski (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) made a defensive save to help lead the Mavericks defense.
The Yellow Jackets were led by Liv Magni who scored the only goal of the game in the 76th minute off an assist from Taylor Ruscillo. Goalkeeper Chelsea Lombardo made four saves in her first start of the season to pick up the win and improve to 1-0.
The Mavericks got off to a quick start as Soler, Anderson and Ballin forced Lombardo to make four saves in the first four minutes off four penalty corners. However, Mercy could not capitalize on their opportunities early on and the scored remained 0-0.
American International responded with an offensive push of their own but Amell was up to the challenge, making five saves in the half to keep the game scoreless at halftime. The Yellow Jackets held a 6-5 edge in shots and a 7-4 advantage in penalty corners in the first half.
The second half saw American International come out and fire three consecutive shots in the first three minutes of the frame. Amell was once again up to the task and stopped all three to keep it a 0-0 game. Amell would make eight saves in the second half with the biggest coming on a penalty stroke by Lizz Moulton in the 62nd minute of action, which would come after a lightning delay that stopped play with 10:05 left in the half. The score remained 0-0 after regulation as the Yellow Jackets held a 12-0 advantage in shots in the second half.
The overtime period saw the Yellow Jackets come up with a penalty corner in the 73rd minute, but the following shot was blocked and the score remained 0-0. American International finally broke through with the elusive first goal of the game in the 76th minute. Magni took a ball played in from Ruscillo and broke free, firing the shot in the left corner of the cage to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 victory.
American International held a 20-5 edge in shots and 15-5 advantage in penalty corners on the day.
Head Coach Deirdre O'Neill and the Mavericks look to bounce back when they host Saint Anselm on Sunday, September 18th at 1 p.m.
