SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Newberry Wolves field hockey team (11-8, 7-5 South Atlantic Conference) was defeated in the South Atlantic Conference Field Hockey Championship semifinals in double overtime by the Mount Olive Trojans by a score of 2-1.

The Wolves entered the game after shutting out the Coker Cobras in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The Wolves looked to pick where they left off on Tuesday, but struggled to gain control of the ball in the first quarter. The Trojans took the first four shots of the match over the first ten-and-a-half minutes, but the Wolves' strong defense forced the Trojans to take bad shots, none of which were on goal.

Over the final two minutes of the first quarter, sophomore midfielder Stembile Chikoore (Harare, Zimbabwe) took two shots for the Wolves that were blocked by the Trojans. The second shot, however, drew a foul and a penalty corner for the Wolves with four seconds remaining on the clock. Chikoore found senior defender Marissa Plumer (Chester, Md.) who passed to freshman forward Lieke Varenkamp (Middelburg, Netherlands) to open the afternoon's scoring. With the quarter expired, the Wolves entered the second quarter up one goal.

The Wolves took their momentum into the second quarter and commanded possession throughout the second frame. The Trojans were unable to take a shot because of the Wolves dominating defense. In the final minute of the quarter, the Wolves took another penalty corner, but this time the shot from junior defender Sanne Pronk (Eindhoven, Netherlands) was blocked by the Trojans and time expired on the first half with Newberry's 1-0 lead intact.

The third quarter was more even-keeled than the second quarter, and both teams struggled to find a chance to take a shot. The Wolves and Trojans both took just two shots in the third quarter, only one of which, from Chikoore in the 31st minute, was on goal. The shot was saved by the Trojans' keeper and the teams continued to go back and forth until the 41st minute when Mount Olive was awarded a potentially game-tying penalty stroke. But after a bad strike from Mount Olive and a great save from Wolves' freshman keeper Peyton Hamilton (Chesapeake, Va.) the Wolves' lead remained intact for the remainder of the third quarter and Newberry entered the final frame up 1-0.

Once again the teams were engaged in a heated defensive battle in the fourth quarter, with neither able to find any shooting opportunities through the first seven minutes of the quarter. But in the 53rd minute, the Trojans scored the equalizer with just under eight minutes in regulation. The only other shot of the quarter was taken by Mount Olive and saved by Hamilton and the teams went to overtime to decide who earned the first spot in the SAC Championship Game.

The Wolves returned to their form from the second quarter in dominating possession in the first overtime period, taking the only two shots of the period. The first shot, taken by Chikoore in the 66th minute, was saved by the Trojans' keeper and the teams finished out a scoreless 10-minute overtime, leaving the score at 1-1.

Just 51 seconds into the second overtime period, a Trojan forward found herself with a one-on-one against Hamilton and put the shot past the freshman keeper, notching the win for Mount Olive.