Lewis Leads Rutgers Field Hockey Past St. Joseph's
Sep 27 | Field Hockey
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Amy Lewis (Hainesport, N.J.) scored two goals to lead the Rutgers field hockey team (4-8, 0-2 BIG EAST) to a 3-2 win over St. Joseph's University on Wednesday at the RU Stadium Complex.
"We were really prepared mentally for the game," said head coach Liz Tchou. "We got together this morning and came up with goals and I think everyone was just on the same page. It was such a collective effort; everyone showed a lot of character and I think they were fired up after losing the last few games."
Coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to Penn on Sept. 24, the Scarlet Knights came out looking to attack, setting the pace for the game from the start.
In the 25th minute of the game, following a Rutgers corner, Lewis dribbled past two Hawks defenders and slapped a shot into the high left corner of the cage to give the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead.
However, the Hawks came back firing, scoring less than two minutes later. After a corner, Nicole Antonini came up with the ball and made a pass to Marisa Pizzi on the left side of the cage. Pizzi shot the ball into the upper right corner of the cage past Rutgers' goalie Rosalyn Wentko (Dallas, Pa.).
Following the break, it was St. Joe's that jumped out ahead and getting two shots off early in the half. In the 47th minute, following a corner, Antonini came up with the ball in traffic and scored for the Hawks.
Trailing 2-1, Rutgers came back determined to score, a mindset to which Lewis credits the team's focus.
"After they scored, we got together, said what we needed to say to get each other fired up and just left it all out on the field," she said. "We really had the mentality to play hard, with a lot of heart and with high intensity."
That hard work paid off when Rutgers tied the game on an unassisted goal by Carrie Grainger (Island Heights, N.J.) in the 50th minute.
Both teams battled back and forth in the final 20 minutes of the game, as St. Joe's tallied four corners and the Scarlet Knights had two. In the 60th minute, the Scarlet Knights got a corner with Caitlin Browne (Middletown, N.J.) inserting the ball to the top of the circle. Lewis dribbled just inside the arc and shot the game-winning goal right past the Hawks' goalie Rebecca Cunfer.
Rutgers will travel to Providence Saturday, Sept. 30 looking for its first BIG EAST win of the season. The game is schedule for 2:30 p.m.
Rutgers 3, St. Joseph's 2
Field Hockey Non-Conference Game
Tuesday, Sept. 26; Piscataway, N.J.; RU Stadium Complex
St. Joseph's 1 1 2
Rutgers 1 2 3
Shots: SJU 12, RU 4. Saves: SJU 3 (Rebecca Cunfer 3), RU 4 (Rosalyn Wentko 4). Penalty Corners: SJU 5, RU 5. Cards:YC-Amy Lewis (RU) 51:03.
Time Team Goal Assist
24:42 RU Amy Lewis unassisted
26:05 SJU Marisa Pizzi Nicole Antonini
47:07 SJU Nicole Antonini unassisted
50:12 RU Carrie Grainger unassisted
59:35 RU Amy Lewis unassisted
