NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – First-year
Maddie Greco scored twice and three other Garnet Chargers found the net as well as the Union College field hockey team picked up its 10th win of the season with a 5-2 non-conference win over Smith College on Wednesday night.
Greco continued her fantastic rookie season with two more goals, giving her a team-leading 12 tallies on the year that is one away from a spot in the school single-season top-10. Seniors
Grace Krebs and
Sophie Ruhl and junior
Grace Goddard all scored as well for Union (10-7).
The Garnet Chargers twice saw one-goal leads disappear in less than a minute over the first two-plus quarters of action, but Ruhl gave Union back the lead for good in the final 30 seconds of the third period and Greco closed the door with two fourth-quarter tallies.
After a scoreless first period, Union got on the board first with 2:09 left in the second stanza on a beautifully executed penalty corner. After an insert to sophomore
Megan Dorsey at the top of the arc, she fed Goddard for a shot toward goal that was deftly deflected by first-year
Rachel Ostiguy to the original inserter Krebs at the far post for the tap-in tally, her third of the year.
Goddard gave the visitors a lead for the second time early in the third, when she made a nice run past several defenders and sent a shot past traffic in front for her fifth goal of the year. Ruhl did not get an assist but helped the ball find the net by making a run into the crease that the goalie had to account for.
The tide turned in the final minute of the third period, when sophomore
Sophie Brady made a great kick save at one end of the field and the Garnet Chargers came right down the field to take back the lead in the waning seconds. Ruhl created space and took a shot from the top of the arc that deflected off a Smith defender and into the net for her sixth goal of the season.
Greco took over at the start of the fourth frame, scoring two goals in 2:21 to increase the Union lead to 5-2. She netted her team-leading 11th tally of the season 2:34 into the final frame, taking a feed from Ostiguy and finding the net from a sharp angle. A few minutes later, Dorsey sent a long pass into the crease that Greco redirected into the net for goal number 12 on the year.
Brady finished the night with three saves as Union posted a 17-7 edge in shots.
Union will look to close out the regular season strong on Saturday with a 2 p.m. match at Keene State College.
