ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY
Saturday, October 1, 2005

Elizabethtown Knocks Off Second Nationally Ranked Opponent in a Row; Blue Jays Down #19 King’s 3-1

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- For the second game in a row, the Elizabethtown College field hockey team has upset a nationally ranked opponent. After downing #16 Kean University 2-1 in overtime Wednesday, the Blue Jays repeated their efforts Saturday in a 3-1 home victory over #19 King’s College (Pa.). It was the first loss of the season for King’s, which drops to 9-1 overall with the non-conference loss, while Elizabethtown improves to 9-2 overall. Etown is now 2-2 against nationally ranked opponents in 2005.

Etown scored the game’s first goal 5:09 after the opening whistle as Mel Slessinger (Westminster, MD/North Carroll) scored off a Laura Rinck (Selinsgrove, PA/Selinsgrove) assist. Slessinger has now scored for the Blue Jays in the team’s last five consecutive games.

King’s tied the score 1-1 at 10:05 into the game when Grace King (Bryn Athyn, PA/Academy of the New Church) scored on a penalty stroke. The score remained tied 1-1 at halftime.

Etown scored the game winner at 48:08 as Brandy Spriggle (Beaver Springs, PA/West Snyder) scored on an assist by Slessinger.

The final seconds of the game ticked away with Etown up 2-1 and the Blue Jays in King’s defensive circle. At that point, the bench and fans thought the game had ended and began rushing onto the field to celebrate. However, the referees were signaling for a penalty corner as the result of a last-second penalty in the circle by King’s. After the field was cleared off and everyone took their places to play through the final corner with no time left on the clock, Slessinger scored her second goal of the game off a Meg Policicchio (Topton, PA/Brandywine Heights) assist to make the final score 3-1.

King’s actually out-shot Etown 19-8 over the course of the game but could not score on anything but a penalty stroke as Etown goalie Kristen Callaghan (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) made 11 saves in the game, and as Spriggle and Jenna Mastromarino (Sinking Spring, PA/Holy Name) each made a defensive save for the Blue Jays. King’s also held an 8-5 advantage in penalty corners. All five of Etown’s corners came during the second half.

#19 King’s College (Pa.) (9-1) vs. Elizabethtown College (9-2)
Goals by period      1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
King’s College (Pa.) 1 0 - 1
Elizabethtown Coll.. 1 2 - 3

SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 5:19 ETOWN Mel Slessinger (12) (Laura Rinck)
2. 10:05 KINGSFH Grace King (1) Penalty stroke
3. 48:08 ETOWN Brandy Spriggle (1) (Mel Slessinger)
4. 70:00 ETOWN Mel Slessinger (13) (Meg Policicchio) - Penalty corner

Shots: King’s College (Pa.) 19, Elizabethtown Coll. 8
Saves: King’s College (Pa.) 2 (Kari Leach 2), Elizabethtown Coll. 11 (Kristen Callaghan 11)