BOX SCORE
Huntingdon, Pa. (Oct. 26, 2006) – Shots were at a premium Thursday afternoon when #18 Alvernia College paid a visit to #13 Juniata and the offense came from where you would expect as the nation’s leading goal scorer, Juniata junior Kim Wagner (Middletown, PA/Middletown) scored goals 30 and 31 to lead the Eagles to a 3-2 win in non-conference field hockey action.
Alvernia senior Becky Macchione (Richland, PA/Conrad Weiser), the most recent Division III player to reach 200 career points, scored both goals for Alvernia and marked her fourth straight 20-goal season. Wagner totaled six of Juniata’s nine shots while Macchione accounted for five of the Crusaders six.
Macchione, who now has 92 career goals at Alvernia, scored the opening goal, her 20th of the season, just over a minute into play as she flipped an unassisted goal high into the corner of the cage. Juniata senior Sarah Bender (York, PA/Eastern York) answered in the 30th minute and the game went to halftime knotted at 1-1.
Wagner put the hosts up 2-1 early in the second half, and Macchione scored the equalizer three minutes later on the counterattack assisted by senior Jessie Titus (Leesport, PA/Schuylkill Valley). Wagner’s second of the game proved the game-winner as she scored on a redirection with just over seven minutes to play.
Both keepers, Alvernia sophomore Audrey Hoffman (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights) and Juniata sophomore Abby Funk (Lewisburg, PA/Lewisburg) made four saves on the day. Alvernia earned 10 penalty corners to Juniata’s three.
Juniata will finish up its regular season with a trip to Christopher Newport this Saturday before opening the Commonwealth playoffs with a trip to national runner-up Messiah College. Alvernia, which had a seven-game win streak snapped, is done with the regular season and has a first-round bye in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Championships. The Crusaders will host a semifinal game next Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.
Juniata 3, Alvernia 2
