Hunter O. Lyle — Sports Editor
After claiming victory over Molloy College 4-1, the field hockey team can finally rejoice after breaking their losing-streak that spanned over two years.
The Owls entered this game coming off a closely fought overtime loss against Mercy College and seemed to want to put that behind them as quickly as possible.
Straight out of the starting gates, the Owls pushed the ball aggressively. Southern offense continuously controlled the ball, keeping the action on the Lion’s side of the field. While the Lions were not able to get a shot off during the first quarter, the Owls were able to get three, one of which, a shot through the middle with less than 30 seconds left from forward Karley Welles, a junior, found the back of the net and gave Southern a 1-0 lead early.
After Molloy bounced back aggressively and were able to score a goal in the second, both teams seemed evenly matched throughout the rest of the half. Both teams were able to go on somewhat of fast breaks but were unable to finish when it mattered.
Coming into the second half, the Owls looked to pull away from Molloy with a burst of scoring. The first goal of the quarter came from Janelle Ward, a freshman who had only scored once before this season. Ward got a rebound from a blocked shot and quickly put it in the net with 14 minutes still in the third.
The second goal of the third quarter of play came from midfielder Jessica Maier, a junior who sent a rocket shot into the back of the net about seven minutes later. Going into the fourth quarter, the Owls were ahead of the Lions 3-1.
In the final period, Southern sealed the game with a final goal scored by forward Ellie Craft, a sophomore, after she got an assist from Welles with just over eight minutes left in the game.
With this win, the Owls broke a losing streak that stemmed back to Sept. 20, 2017 and spanned over 35 games. Next up, the Owls look to win back-to-back games against NE10 opponent Pace University on Oct. 15.
