GAFFNEY — The Newberry Wolves field hockey team (4-2, 1-0 South Atlantic Conference) opened conference play with a 2-1 win over the Limestone University Saints last week.
The game came the same day the Wolves entered the NFHCA poll for the first time in program history.
The Wolves opened the scoring early when junior forward Lily Drury (Ballarat, Australia) scored her first goal of the season off of an assist from sophomore midfielder Stembile Chikoore (Harare, Zimbabwe) in the fifth minute of the match.
The teams played the rest of the match in a back-and-forth defensive battle and the Wolves took their one goal lead into the second quarter.
The Wolves opened the second quarter with a pair of shots from sophomore forward Tamsin Bangert (Johannesburg, Z.A.) and Lieke Varenkamp freshman midfielder (Middelburg, Netherlands) both took shots on goal, both of which were saved by the Saints’ keeper.
The teams once again went back-and-forth defensively with only one other shot being taken until the Saints scored at the 29:03 mark. With little time left in the half to mount a counterattack, the teams entered halftime knotted at 1-1.
However, the Wolves did not let the score stand tied for long. Stembile Chikoore scored a goal of her own in the 32nd minute of the match off of an assist by Tamsin Bangert. The Wolves controlled the game for the rest of the quarter, outshooting the Saints 6-1 in the period. They were unable to find the back of the cage again, taking their one goal advantage into the final quarter.
The Wolves again controlled the game in the final quarter. They outshot the Saints 6-2 and held the home team to just one shot on goal in the final 15 minutes of the match. The Saints were without a shot after the 51st minute of the contest.
The strong defensive effort led the Wolves to a 2-1 victory over the Saints, their first conference victory of the season.