Sept. 23, 2007
Box Score
Loudonville, N.Y. - Sophomore forward Andrea Caso (Carmel, NY/Carmel) scored the go ahead goal nine minutes into the second half as the Siena Field Hockey team (1-5-0, 1-0-0 NEC) would never look back in a 3-1 Northeast Conference opening victory over Robert Morris (2-7-0, 0-2-0 NEC) this afternoon at Siena Turf Field. For the Saints, the victory snapped a 10 game losing skid since a 1-0 victory at Fairfield on October 6th of last season.
"We've still got a long way to go, but coming out and winning a game at this stage was what we needed to do," remarked elated Head Coach Bill Davidson who secured his first victory at the helm of the Saints.
Robert Morris jumped out to a quick advantage just more than three minutes into the contest. On a perfectly executed penalty corner, Colonials forward Gwen Dalphon would be the beneficiary as she found the back of the net giving Robert Morris an early 1-0 lead.
With time winding down in the first half, the Saints would regroup and tie the game with twelve minutes remaining. Sophomore forward Carli Atkinson (Canton, Conn./Canton) sent in a rebound off of a penalty corner past Colonials goalkeeper Kate Dunlap to even the score at one.
Entering the second half the Saints would build off their momentum, quickly capturing the lead just nine minutes in. On a free pass from junior back Rian Lively (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield), the ball would trickle through several defenders to the back left corner where Caso broke free to deflect it into the net for her first goal of the season.
Siena would tack on one final score for good measure seventeen minutes later as Anne Linley (Washington, Conn./Shepaug Regional) would knock home a rebound on a scramble in front of the net to give the Saints the 3-1 lead. Linley was active in the circle all game long, leading all Siena players with three total shots.
For the Saints, the three goal total doubled their season output from the previous five games combined and was also the most goals scored by Siena in their last thirteen games since tallying four in a 4-0 victory last year against St. Francis.
"We haven't put it all together yet, but it's still nice to be able to come away with a victory and build off of that," added Davidson.
The Saints will look to open conference play 2-0 when they return to action Friday as they begin a mini two game road trip in Pennsylvania against Lock Haven. Game time is slated for 6:00 p.m.
