BOX SCORE

Reading, Pa. (Sept. 16, 2008) – Freshman Sarah George (West Chester, Pa./WC Bayard Rustin) broke a 1-1 tie with an unassisted goal in the 61st minute and classmate Katy Eby (New Holland, Pa./Garden Spot) followed with her second goal of the season four minutes later to lead Alvernia College to a 3-1 win over Widener University Tuesday afternoon in non-conference field hockey action.

Widener held possession for the early going prompting an Alvernia timeout after netting the game's first goal in the eighth minute. The Crusaders responded to the challenged they received in the timeout knotting the score in the 25th minute when Eby set up junior Janelle Lynch (Macungie, Pa./Brandywine Heights) for her fourth goal of the season. Eby gained control of the ball along the right endline and fed the ball back to Lynch whose shot bounced through a screen to level the score.

Alvernia kept up the pressure earning eight penalty corners in the first half to just one for the Pride. The Crusaders took nine shots in the opening 35 minutes, but Widener goalie Katie Jensen (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) stopped three to keep the score tied at one.

Alvernia continued to pressure the Widener netminder in the second half earning 10 more corners and getting off 12 shots to just four more for the Pride. The pressure paid off with just under 15 minutes to play when a shot from the top of the circle caromed off the left post where George was waiting to score the eventual game-winner.

The offense finally turned one of its 18 corners into a goal four minutes later when Kaitlin Prutzman (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg) sent a pass from the left endline to Eby who found the back of the cage.

Alvernia senior Audrey Hoffman (Mertztown, Pa./Brandywine Heights) made three saves to earn the win while Jensen finished with seven saves.

Alvernia will host Neumann College on Saturday in a non-conference game at 1:00 p.m.

Alvernia 3, Widener 1