NEWBERRY, S.C. – The Wolves (3-2, 1-0 South Atlantic Conference) faced their second conference opponent of the season when they welcomed the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters to Setzler Field for an early afternoon matchup. This was the first time that Newberry had been on their home field since February 15 in a win against Emmanuel College, but after two wins on the road against quality teams, the team looked forward to being home and defending home field advantage.
The Wolves scored early and often in this game, and it was dictated from the start by Emma Jobs (Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada) with the first goal of the game not even a minute into the game at 14:19. She doubled her goal scoring with a goal from the free position at 12:47, with the next five minutes spent mostly in Newberry's possession. The Railsplitters announced themselves to the game at 7:10 by scoring a goal by Ana Carney. Defense and turnovers saw the rest of the quarter out as both teams combined for five.
In what would turn out to result in a defensive first half, Heather Johnston (Merritt Island, Fla.) started the scoring, followed by a goal from Jenny Bates (Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada) 30 seconds later. Lincoln Memorial's Kelly Csenar made it a two goal game at 10:29 with her goal, but after dominating play for the next six minutes, Johnston found the back of the net again. That was all the Wolves put on the board for the half, as two goals from Jamie Small and Josie Tinnerello made it a one score game with Newberry leading 5-4.
The third quarter saw the hosts double their goal tally from a group of Wolves. It started first with Marissa Plumer's (Kent Island, Md.) opening the quarter with a goal, and following that score, Emma Jobs achieved her hat trick with a score from the free position at 12:17. Cassell Richardson (Forest, Va.) added her name to the sheet five minutes in, with Jenny Bates netting her brace at 6:37 with a free position goal. The visitors found the much needed response by way of Kelly Csenar and her goal, but with Jobs scoring her fourth of the game three minutes before the 4th period, it set up a dominant rest of the match for Newberry.
Ryann Doyle of Lincoln Memorial scored the opening goal of the 4th, but Jobs made it five with a free position goal at 9:42. Sophia Gardea from the Railsplitters added a goal from the free position, and, with the game up in the air, Ella Todd (Maple Ridge, Canada) scored for the Wolves, giving the visitors another option to defend. With seven minutes left to play, Ana Carney of LMU scores, but, in what would be the last goal for the away team, it was all Wolves from here on out. Two goals from Jobs and another from Bates put the game at 15-8, and the defensive effort was present with Wolves only allowing eight goals off the performances of both the swarming defense and goalies Mackenzie Dorr (Riverhead, N.Y.) and Kaitlyn Lamanna (Mohnton, Pa.). Lana Howell (Aurora, Colo.) scored an insurance goal less than a minute from the end as Newberry defended Setzler Field, winning 16-8.
Newberry will host their third regular season home game next Wednesday, March 8, against the visiting Southern Wesleyan Warriors. The bout with the Conference Carolina opponent is scheduled to start at 4 PM.
