Senior Jenna Steele scored four goals and added one assist to lead the 13th ranked University of Mary Washington field hockey team to a 7-3 victory at York College on Saturday in Capital Athletic Conference action. Steele, now with 60 career goals, breaks the UMW school record, surpassing the record of 59 set by Jessica Morris in 1998-2001.
York took the lead first, scoring 13:14 into the game on a score from Mutumn Mallory. The Eagles tied the score six minutes later, as senior Haley Kane scored on a Kathleen Namey assist at 19:29. Steele put the Eagles ahead just 30 seconds later, unassisted. York tied the score five minutes before halftime on a goal from Lindsay Nye.
The Eagles took the lead for good 1:44 into the second half, as Namey scored on an Erin Kaila assist. Steele scored on a breakaway five minutes later to push the score to 4-2, and freshman Alaina Shivers found the back of the cage with 20 minutes remaining on a Steele pass.
Steele scored unassisted with 7:34 left, and again on a Carlee Budd pass with 4:17 to go. York scored in the waning minutes on a Mallory score to cut the final to 7-3.
"It was a super special moment", sais Steele afterwards. "because I got to share it with my roommate and best friend, Carlee, who assisted it. I couldn't have done it without my awesome teammates over the years."
"We had a great team win today", said UMW head coach Lindsey Elliott. "We played with a lot of intensity, which is great going into conference play. We had some great passing combinations that led to goals."
Regarding Steele's record, Elliott added "I'm very happy for Jenna and her accom plishment of breaking the record. She works hard getting the ball into our attacking end and does a great job of finishing."
The Eagles led in shots, 23-12, and in penalty corners, 9-4. Freshman jessica Cavolt had six saves, and freshman mackenzie Burnett added a defensive save for the Eagles. Ty McCloskey had 11 saves for York.
Mary Washington will be back in action on Wednesday night when they visit Eastern Mennonite University at 7:00 p.m.