Box Score NEWBERRY – The Newberry Wolves field hockey concluded the regular season in heartbreaking fashion to the No. 6 Limestone Saints 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday evening at Setzler Field.
The Wolves received goals from Meghan Smiga (Annandale, Va.), Courtlyn Warren (Richmond, Va.) and Caitlyn Warren (Richmond, Va.) as well as multiple attempts on frame from a variety of players.
Newberry (4-12, 0-6) got on the board first at the 3:47 mark as Co. Warren potted her fourth goal of the campaign receiving a pass from Kaitlyn Willard (Stevensville, Md.) by way of penalty corner. She received the ball at the top of the arc and fired a shot to the near post past Limestone goalie Tabria Cochran.
The Scarlet and Gray held tough against the Saints until the 24th minute when Rachel Goromonzi’s shot went to the high left side past Wolves goalie Dakota Elzy (Louisville, Ky.) to knot the score at one goal apiece.
Coming out of the half, Jill Funkhouser gave the Saints their first lead of the match in the 48th minute as her shot found the back of cage towards the right side.
Newberry continued to battle and in the 58th minute Smiga found herself with possession in the Limestone end of the field and slotted the ball past a charging goalie to bring the scoreline even at two.
The tie was short-lived as Brittany Carney reclaimed the Saints lead as she buried her shot into an empty net following her initial shot being saved by a sliding Elzy.
The resilience of the Wolves continued and paid off again, this time in the 61st minute as Willard sent a penalty corner into Co. Warren who settled the ball and setup her sister Ca. Warren who buried her shot inside the near post.
Newberry continued to exchange chances with Limestone in the final 10 minutes but to no avail, sending the match into overtime.
In the extra frame the Wolves had an opportunity to score the golden goal as Smiga carried possession to the endline and played a pass in front of frame to Alison King (Sparks, Md.) who was unable to get a good handle on the ball and the Saints defender cleared it away.
Limestone was able to capitalize on the open field as Carney found an open space between two Wolves defenders as she made a run and received a pass from Goromonzi and placed it under a sliding Elzy for the game-winner.
The Wolves have concluded their second regular season in program history and will head to Saints Field in Gaffney, S.C. next weekend for the ECAC Championship to be held on Friday and Sunday afternoon.
