SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Junior Jordyn Wigglesworth picked the right time to tally her first collegiate goal for the East Stroudsburg University women's field hockey team as the Warriors defeated Shippensburg 2-1 on Wednesday in the NCAA DII Showcase at Robb Sports Complex.
 
ESU (9-1, 2-0 PSAC) controlled the tempo in the first quarter against the Raiders as the Warriors tallied nine shots. The Warriors took a total of 11 penalty corners in the contest and allowed just two.
 
"We came into the game a little nervous," said ESU head coach Sandy Miller. "We talked before the game about how we wanted to pressure them and to get an early goal definitely helped take some of the pressure off the team. Scoring the second goal really helped to swing the momentum."
 
In a battle between the fourth-ranked and sixth-ranked teams in the country, it would be ESU that tallied the opening goal of the contest as sophomore Celeste Veenstra found a loose ball and beat the Shippensburg goalkeeper for her 11th goal of the season at the 1:40 mark.
 
The Warriors, who dropped to fourth in the latest NFHCA Coaches Poll that was released on Tuesday, continued to apply pressure against the Raiders and would double their lead to 2-0 at the 6:10 mark of the opening quarter.
 
Wigglesworth redirected a shot from the top of the circle that would beat the goalkeeper. Sophomore Morgan Mesenbrink took the initial shot that followed a penalty corner by the Warriors with nine minutes left in the quarter.
 
ESU recorded three shots in the second quarter and would take a 2-0 lead into the half against the Raiders. Shippensburg goalkeeper Megan Lay made six saves in the half, including five in the first quarter.
 
The pace of play would change in the third quarter as Shippensburg established some offensive pressure. Both teams recorded one shot on goal in the quarter as ESU senior goalkeeper Maddie Richie made her first save of the contest to keep the Warriors ahead 2-0.
 
Shippensburg turned the offensive pressure up another notch in the fourth quarter as the Raiders recorded six shots overall and two on goal. Richie made one save in the frame but saw Shippensburg cut the deficit in half at the 51:10 mark.
 
Valen Alonso scored her second goal of the season as her shot from the top of the circle made its way through a wall of players and found the back of the goal to make it 2-1. The Raider had a chance to knot the score in the final seconds of the contest until Sara Ober made a great defensive play to preserve the win for the Warriors.
 
"We had some amazing efforts today, especially from Sara and Kristen English," noted Miller. "Sara had the awesome play at the end of the game and has really stepped up her play the last couple of games. We matched Kristen up with Jazmin (Petrantonio) and she did a really good job of shutting her down and not allowing her to take over the game for the Raiders."
 
Richie improved to 9-1 on the season for the Warriors after stopping a pair of shots. Richie has allowed just three goals on the season and currently sports a 0.31 goals-against average.
 
ESU hosts Mercyhurst on Saturday at Whitenight Field as part of Family Weekend. It will also be the Warriors' Think Pink game with the contest scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. The Warriors then hit the road for a pair of matches against Kutztown and Slippery Rock.