ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan University field hockey team begins its warm-ups by taking penalty strokes. The Redhawks' also ended their season opener with one.
Junior
Makena Tooley sent a shot high into the left-hand corner of the cage 5:56 into overtime to give Roberts a 3-2 victory over Maryville University in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon.
"I warmed up that way, so I guess that I wanted to go that way," Tooley said of her shot selection. "Usually, you just shoot for corners and want to go fast."
The goal, the 10
th of Tooley's career and her first of the season, capped a back-and-forth contest that saw the Redhawks outshoot the Saints 16-13.
"It was a good start and a good finish," Roberts coach
Marissa Kocher said.
Sophomore
Natalee Lawrence opened the scoring for Roberts, converting an assist from classmate
Avery Carinci early in the second quarter.
Maryville tied the game midway through the third quarter before freshman
Ashlyn Hermanofski scored her first collegiate goal off an assist from Carinci to give Roberts a 2-1 lead with 9:26 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Maryville pulled its goalkeeper with 4:00 to play and the move paid off as Consuelo Torres Moore tied the game with 2:42 to play.
Roberts turned up the pressure in overtime and was awarded the penalty stroke after a flurry in front of the Maryville cage.
Senior
Avery Richardson made five saves for Roberts, which is in its fourth season as an NCAA Division II program.
"Our focus is on getting 1% better each day," Kocher said. "I am happy that we made some adjustments today and we also realize that we still have work to do."
The Redhawks will continue their season-opening five-game homestand at 6 p.m. on Wednesday against Elmira College.
