HUNTINGDON, PA- Thursday was a historic night at Knox Field as the Juniata field hockey team hosted the first-ever night game. What started as a defensive battle turned out to be an offensive surge as the Eagles defeated visiting Wilkes 3-1.
The two teams were scoreless in the first half. Both defenses stood their ground with Eagle goalkeeper Julianne Jones (Middleburg, PA/Midd-West) coming away with six saves.
The second half mirrored the first as neither team could generate any offense for over 17 minutes of game time. The scoring drought finally ended in the 53rd minute as Allison Groft (Hanover, PA/South Western) dished off to Katie Alexander (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) for the score to put JC up 1-0.
The Colonels quickly gained possession and got into the Eagle zone and consistently pressured goalkeeper Shelby Miller (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) who entered in the beginning of the frame. Wilkes' Marissa Surdy pounded three consecutive shots towards the cage but Miller stuffed each attempt. Surdy, however, would finally score in the 56th minute off an assist from Aliya Frankel to knot the contest at 1-1.
The game seemed destined to go into an extra period. Juniata got a fast break down the field as Alexander found herself one-on-one with a Wilkes defender. Alexander passed off the Groft who poked in a shot pass a diving Savannah McCauley to restore the Eagle lead to 2-1 with less than three and a half minutes to play. The Eagles were not done as Sarah Bilheimer (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) added a score with less than two minutes remaining to secure the victory for the home team.
Miller and Jones combined for 11 saves in goal for the Eagles. McCauley stopped three shots for the Colonels.
The Colonels outshot the Eagles 15-10 overall and had 12 shots on goal to six for Juniata. Wilkes led in corners, 9-7, and in fouls, 41-33.
Juniata looks to stay unbeaten when its hosts #12 Messiah on Saturday. Game time will be at 1 p.m.
