Liberty Game of the Week Winner: Marshall Beats Madison 2-1

It seems as if the Marshall Statesmen love playing field hockey so much that they haven't minded all the overtimes and nail biting finishes they've been through when they've taken the field recently. Their third win in games decided by strokes in the last week, and an eight game winning streak, are probably pretty enjoyable too.

Alex Sandlin, Katie Clark and Madeleine Lewsen connected on their attempts, and Emily Buzek's save in the fourth frame sealed Marshall's 2-1 win over Madison Friday night.

"They had a little bit of confidence going into this," Marshall head coach Christina Carroll said. "Even though we have some other people who can stroke, we always go by who feels they can do it today."

There may not be many days where that lineup doesn't feel up to the challenge. The Statesmen sent out the same group as they did in wins over Washington-Lee and Herndon last week.

After the Statesmen early and constant pressure never materialized into a scoring opportunity, it was the Warhawks who capitalized on a brief lapse in Marshall's defense when Katie Hanton found the back of the cage with three minutes left in the first half. That put Marshall in a position its proven to be comfortable with - playing from behind.

"We did have a lot of chances, and they had a couple chances too," Carroll said. "It's unfortunate that they get one breakaway and it's a nice finish, a really nice goal. We have to work on our defense so one little breakdown is not a goal again."

It didn't take long for the Statesmen to respond, as Maggie MacDonnell scored off of a corner just over a minute later. Even with a renewed focus though, Marshall's second half opportunities went unrewarded.

"This season we've been having some problems with finishing, so that's always the concern," Carroll said. "Especially once they scored first, that's happened several games where we're playing a catch up game and we have to score two goals to get back in it."

The win moves Statesmen to 10-2(2-0) on the season as they get back into Liberty District play after playing four games in two days last week to win the Herndon Invitational Tournament. Madison falls to 4-7(0-2).

Friday's field hockey game was this week's Liberty District Game of the week, earning special coverage.