ST. DAVID'S, Pa. (September 29, 2018) - Senior
Kelly O'Neill scored three times as the FDU-Florham field hockey team used six second half goals to top Eastern 6-3 Saturday afternoon.
The Devils are now 10-2 overall, including a 2-0 mark in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom. Eastern falls to 2-8, 0-2 in conference.
FDU held a 10-5 edge in shots and had the only two corners of the opening 35 minutes, but it was the host Eagles who held the lead at halftime. Eastern had a chance that was stopped by senior
Samantha Rubin just 23 seconds into the contest. The Eagles scored three times within a 5:26 stretch in the first half, opening a three goal lead.
The Devils nearly broke through 55 seconds in the second stanza. Senior
Makayla Pak rifled a shot off a corner pass from junior
Maggie Sohns, but the shot was cleared off the goal-line by an Eagles defender. 1:10 later, O'Neill converted a penalty stroke to put the Devils on the board.
Just 2:22 after her first tally, O'Neill deposited her own rebound into the back of the cage for her eighth goal of the year. After two Eastern penalty corners resulted in a blocked shot the Devils found the equalizer in the 47th minute. O'Neill had her initial attempt blocked, but Eastern was whistled for a foul. Senior
Brooke Sherwin stepped up to take the penalty stroke, beating the keeper to even the game at three.
The Devils continued to put pressure on Eastern, but struggled to find a way to beat Marley Redfield in the cage. Sohns put the Devils on top for good, as she turned in from in close to beat Redfield and give FDU the 4-3 lead with 9:12 remaining.
O'Neill completed her hat trick, as she took a pass from senior
Cassidy Santorelli and broke in down the right side and scored. With just 3:09 left, senior
Chrissy Penney completed the scoring, firing a shot from just inside the circle for her fourth goal of the campaign.
Sherwin registered five shots, while O'Neill and Penney combined for 10. Defensively, Rubin made two saves for her 10th win of the season.
FDU returns to action on Friday night, heading out to Wilkes for 7 p.m. MAC Freedom tilt.