Senior Kathleen Namey scored off a penalty corner with 7:37 remaining in regulation to lift the 13th ranked University of Mary Washington field hockey team to a 2-1 victory over fourth ranked Salisbury University on Saturday at the Battleground on Homecoming Saturday. The Eagles improve to 12-4 on the season.
Namey and the Eagles jumped ahead in the first half, as senior Carlee Budd took the direct pass off a penalty corner and sent to Namey, who scored with 22:55 remaining in the frame. Salisbury responded by applying pressure until they found the tying score with 14:10 left, from Becca Rinaca on an Abbey Shobe assist. From there, both defenses stiffened and the score remained tied at 1-1 at halftime.
In the second, the flow of the game took place mainly in the midfield, but the Sea Gulls applied pressure midway through the frame to gain several penalty corner opportunities. Each time, the Eagles were equal to the task to keep the score tied.
With 7:37 remaining, Haley Kane sent another penalty corner to Budd, who slid to Namey, setting up the heroics. Namey rifled a shot through traffic and into the cage for the eventual game winner.
The Sea Gulls continued to play strong, gaining a penalty corner with 1:35 left. Budd came huge with a defensive save, but the Sea Gulls ran out the clock with three more corner opportunities. After the first didn't produce a shot chance, Budd made two more defensive saves, before the Eagles were able to clear to end the game.
After the late flurry, the Sea Gulls led in shots, 12-11, and in corners, 14-8. Freshman goalkeeper Jessica Cavolt made six saves in goal for Mary Washington, with Budd stopping a career-high four shots on defensive saves. Salisbury's Tressie Windsor had five saves and Shobe added a defensive save for the Sea Gulls.
Mary Washington will be back in action to close the regular season on Wednesday when they host Frostburg State University in another CAC contest. Game time is 4:00 p.m.