Box Score

Game Program

St. Mary's City, Md. - The Washington (Md.) College field hockey team edged St. Mary's College of Maryland, 5-4, in penalty strokes to post a 3-2 non-conference victory Wednesday evening as junior forward Kelsey Kemp (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) notched the deciding stroke.

After 100 minutes of solid play, St. Mary's (4-4) and Washington were still knotted at 2-2, letting the contest be decided by two rounds of strokes.  The Shorewomen (5-1) had taken a 2-1 lead during the first round of strokes before junior midfielder Amanda Bramble (Easton, Md./Easton) converted on her stroke to force the second of strokes.    

Back-to-back conversions by the Seahawks gave them a 4-3 advantage with each squad still having two more players left to shoot in the second round.  Freshman midfielder Gussie Reilly (Buck Hill Falls, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) evened the shootout at 4-4 before St. Mary's missed on its final two attempts to set up Kemp's eventual game-winning stroke.

Senior forward Emily Norris (Timonium, Md./Dulaney) put the Seahawks on the board first at 21:16 as Norris was able to slip one past junior Elena Nicholoff (Tunkhannock, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) at the near post.

Washington responded at 34:01 as junior forward Kristin Bircsak (East Windsor, N.J./Hightstown) found the back of the cage for her third goal of the season, making the contest 1-1 at halftime.

Kemp helped the Shorewomen notch their first lead of the game as she sent a cross to the stroke spot where senior midfielder Amy Spadanuta (Hackettstown, N.J./Warren Hills) was waiting to finish the play with her third tally of 2008.

The Seahawks forced overtime when senior midfielder Emily Smithson (Richmond, Va./James River) sent in a rocket to the lower left corner at 62:22.

Washington took 25 shots to SMCM's 18, while the Shorewomen racked up 18 penalty corners, including seven in the first overtime period.  St. Mary's finished with nine total, including three in the second 15-minute OT frame.

Sophomore Emma Lauhoff (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) registered six stops in the loss, while Nicholoff ended the game with nine saves in the Shorewomen's victory.

The Seahawks will look to halt their two-game losing streak this Sunday, September 28 when St. Mary's travels to Lexington, Va. to take on Washington & Lee University in non-conference action at 1:00.