Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Only one number separated the Elizabethtown College and Gettysburg College field hockey teams in the most recent national poll, but two proved to be the decisive digit in their non-conference affair on Tuesday as the Blue Jays left Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium with a 3-1 victory over the host Bullets.

Elizabethtown (11-2), ranked 14th in the latest National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll, came out firing with six shots and two penalty corners in the opening two minutes against Gettysburg (7-4). The Bullets, the 15th-ranked team in the national rankings, came out of the onslaught unscathed as junior goalkeeper Christina Anderson (Dunkirk, Md./The Calverton School) stopped four shots and two shots were blocked by defenders.

Gettysburg was the first to strike with a penalty stroke in the 19th minute. The Bullets initially earned a penalty corner and managed a pair of shots at the goal, however, the second strike by senior Savannah Ruth (New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford) was stopped illegally by a Blue Jay defender, resulting in a penalty stroke. Senior Anne Ritter (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) lined up for the stroke and flicked the ball into the upper left portion of the goal for her second goal of the season and second career penalty stroke score at 18:47.

The Bullets pressed the advantage early in the second stanza with a pair of shots and a penalty corner, but it was Elizabethtown which found the equalizer just over nine minutes into the period. Awarded a penalty corner, Julie Foster accepted the pass from the baseline and passed it directly to her left where Alison Duval slapped in the game-tying goal at 44:41.

Deadlocked at 1-1 and with overtime looming on the horizon, the Blue Jays exploded for a pair of goals. The first was a redirect of Brenna Noon's pass by Andrea Miles at 60:01 and the second came just 57 seconds later by leading scorer Liz DeMatteis as she corralled a ball in front of the goal and back tapped it past the keeper.

Gettysburg came up empty on a pair of penalty corners and a shot by junior Nina Emala (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) in the final minutes.

Elizabethtown held a slight advantage in the shot department (14-10), but Gettysburg held a 5-3 lead in penalty corners. Anderson finished the afternoon with a game-high six saves, while Emala and Ruth each managed three shots.

Gettysburg resumes Centennial Conference play this weekend by hosting Bryn Mawr College on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 4:30 p.m.