ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Makena Tooley saw one thing as Avery Carinci's  pass off a penalty corner made its way toward her stick on Friday night.

"Open cage," a smiling Tooley said.

Tooley, a sophomore on the Roberts Wesleyan University field hockey team, wound up and sent a shot toward the Mercy cage. The ball deflected off a Mavericks' defender and in for the game's only goal with 2:37 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Redhawks opened their third season as a program with their first win over a Division II opponent.

"It's so exciting," Tooley said. "It's such a great way to open the season."

Redhawks coach Marissa Kocher agreed.

"I think that it is big for that that to happen at the start of the season," Kocher said. "In the past it has taken us a little bit of time to get our feet under us."

Roberts controlled possession and held a territorial advantage throughout the game, but neither team was able to break through for the first 47 minutes of play.

"Our defense was rock solid," Kocher said. "We are playing a new formation and a lot of players stepped up."

Sophomores Mary Catherine Maloney and Annie Barsch led the defensive effort in front of goalkeeper Avery Richardson, who made four saves. Roberts held a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal, but was able to dig deep and deliver when it mattered most.

"Our team chemistry was amazing tonight," Tooley said. "It just shows how hard that we have been working in practice on building our team chemistry."

"It's the little things that allowed us to push through," Kocher said. "We were resilient tonight and I am looking forward to us showing more resilience throughout the season."

Roberts returns to action at 1 p.m. when it hosts Molloy on Redhawks Field.