ONEONTA, NY - The College of New Jersey and Rowan University opened up the women's Division III Mayor's Cup with victories on Saturday at Elmore Field. The nationally 17th ranked Lions of TCNJ scored a 2-1 overtime win over Oneonta State in the first match of the day. The 12th ranked Profs won by a count of 6-0 over Hartwick.
In the opener, Briann McDonough scored 3:41 into the second 10-minute overtime period to give the Lions a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. Teammate Brittany McGinley started the play with a shot from in close that was saved off the line by a Red Dragon back. McDonough was there to pounce on the loose ball and squeezed it past Oneonta keeper Jamie Chyat for the winner.
Oneonta looked poised to score the upset in the later stages of the second half as Kayla Brantmeyer tallied to give the Red Dragons the lead with less than 12 minutes left. Brantmeyer and Lion goalie Jessica Clarke collided on a 50-50 ball12 yards from goal. Clarke fell to the ground and the ball continued to roll towards the Lion goal where Brantmeyer beat a Red Dragon defender to the ball and put it away from half a yard away.
The Lions refused to go quietly and tied the game up with 5:01 remaining. Annie McCarthy sent a cross in from the right side where the ball found Toni DeMaio who put it past Chyat from eight yards out.
TCNJ ended the match with a 24-11 advantage in shots, including a 7-2 edge in the overtime periods. Chyat finished with seven saves. Clarke stopped four.
In the day's second game, Rowan took advantage early scoring after just 43 seconds and never looked back. Jess Babice scored the Profs first two goals in the first 14 minutes and Kate Bower added a third tally giving Rowan a 3-0 lead after 21 minutes. Veronica Rhea, who finished with three helpers, contributed two assists in the half. An own goal led to Rowan's fourth goal five minutes before the break.
The Profs connected on some nice passes for their fifth goal, finished off by Nina Fragoso, and Cathy Dyciewski's floater into the far netting with 35 seconds to go closed out the day.
Rowan made its opportunities count as the team took just 10 shots on the day. Both the Hawks and Profs finished with 10 shots apiece over the course of the 90 minutes. Lauren Ploof (Hammond, NY/Hammond) and Katelyn Bosy (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) each accounted for Hawk shots on target on the day. Ploof, who started the day in goal, took the loss making one save. Alyssa Rondo (Saco, ME/Thornton Acad.) played the final 69 minutes in net also making one save.
Hartwick is back in action tomorrow at Red Dragon Field on the campus of Oneonta State. The Hawks play TCNJ in the final match of the tournament at 4 p.m.
