Gallery: (10-14-2026) 2026 Field Hockey vs. #9 IUP
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Junior
Elaina Fragassi scored a golden goal with 32 seconds left in double overtime Wednesday to propel the No. 4-ranked Shippensburg University field hockey team to a 2-1 victory over No. 9 IUP in an instant classic on a muggy, humid afternoon at Robb Sports Complex.
Shippensburg (8-2) finished with a 15-4 advantage in shots on goal over IUP (7-3) and a 13-4 edge in penalty corners, but the statistical line only told a portion of Wednesday's story. While SU sustained steady offensive pressure in the second half, it also had to overcome significant adversity in overtime – all the while attempting to keep at bay a valiant Crimson Hawk squad that answered each challenge thrown its way.
The opening 30 minutes were scoreless and mostly nondescript. The two teams combined for five shots on goal and five penalty corners (four by SU), but much of the action was played in the midfield. Freshman
Liv Schweighart made two of her three saves on the day in a key sequence midway through the second quarter, stopping a redirect and a rebound at the far post by IUP forward Lauren Horning.
The tempo for the remainder of the match was established less than 60 seconds into the second half. The Raiders got on the board 58 seconds into the third quarter with a wicked rip from the top of the circle by senior
Hannah White that flew into the far corner of the goal past IUP keeper Kaelin Koehler.
Fragassi recorded her team-leading fifth assist of the year by delivering the ball into space to White, who received the ball at the top of the circle and stepped into her shot that resulted in her fourth goal of the year.
Midway through the third quarter, the Crimson Hawks countered. Kasey Rieger collected a rebound and sent a nice low shot into the cage at close range for her team-leading ninth goal, making the score 1-1.
Shippensburg controlled the possession for the overwhelming majority of the fourth quarter. It out-shot IUP 11-0, achieved five penalty corners, and sent five shots on goal. Koehler, making just her second start of the season for the Crimson Hawks, turned aside each one to keep the visitors in it.
IUP earned the first penalty corner of the extra session at the 2:53 mark, but the Raider defense blocked the shot. Two minutes later, SU earned two penalty corners in quick succession, but Koehler made saves on each attempt. The Crimson Hawks also worked through a green card issued to captain Sydney Schmouder and earned another penalty corner on which the Raider defense blocked another shot.
The adversity arose for the Raiders when White was issued a yellow card in the final minute of the first overtime. Amid navigating through being one player down for five minutes, junior
Emily Bitters earned a yellow card three minutes into the second overtime.
Despite being down a player for more than eight minutes in overtime (including a stretch of nearly two minutes in which it was down two players), the defensive efforts of freshman
Juana Caracotche Picone, freshman
Isabel Rios, senior
Carme Caracotche Picone and a whole host of Raiders did not allow a shot or a penalty corner for the entirety of the second overtime.
Ironically, after a preceding 70 minutes that featured 18 combined shots on goal and 16 combined penalty corners, the only penalty corner in double overtime produced the period's only shot on goal, and it found the back of the cage.
After junior
Anne Gardner forced a turnover that helped setup the offensive opportunity that led to the corner, Rios delivered an insert to Fragassi – who distributed the ball to
Juana Caracotche Picone at her right.
It became a "give-and-go," as
Juana Caracotche Picone sent it right back to Fragassi, who was left completely unmarked in the circle with the defender pulled away. Koehler raced out to challenge the oncoming shot and extended her blocker pad, but Fragassi's hard shot raced into the lower left portion of the cage to decide the match.
Fragassi's overtime winner was the first golden goal for the Raiders since a rather important occasion – Kelly Naude's tip-in that decided last year's national championship victory over Newberry. It is SU's first double-overtime victory since Sept. 9 of last season in which
Kayla Snyder converted a penalty stroke for a 3-2 win at West Chester.
Speaking of which, Shippensburg faces another nationally-ranked opponent Saturday when it travels to No. 6 West Chester and renew its rivalry with the Golden Rams. Pushback is set for 1 p.m. at Vonnie Gros Field.
