EDWARDSVILLE - Wilkes Field Hockey were defeated by the Alvernia Golden Wolves 6-1 in their home opener Thursday night at Schmidt Stadium.
 
With this loss, the Colonels move to 1-1 on the season, while Alvernia improve their record to 1-2.
 
The first quarter was a defensive battle, with the score remaining 0-0 after 15 minutes of play. Goalkeeper Carly Eidle (East Greenville, PA/Upper Perkiomen) made a trio of saves in the quarter to keep the Golden Wolves off the scoreboard.
 
The Colonels struck first early in the second quarter, as Caitlin Keim (Trevorton, PA/Line Mountain) picked up a pass from Maura Hensel (Selinsgrove, PA/Selinsgrove) on a penalty corner 30 seconds into the period to put Wilkes on the board 1-0. Alvernia responded with two goals in the period, a penalty stroke goal by Abbie Buck in the second minute and a rebound goal following a penalty corner by Hailey Miller in the eleventh minute. This gave the Golden Wolves the lead going into halftime 2-1.
 
Alvernia continued that momentum with two more goals in the third quarter. The first came in the eleventh minute, another penalty stroke goal by Kathryne Palmer. The second was another rebound goal from a penalty corner with a minute left in the period, scored by Rori Caulfield. This gave the Golden Wolves a 4-1 lead heading into the final frame of play.
 
Alvernia continued the scoring in the fourth quarter, with Katelyn Goodwin scoring to make it 5-1 in the third minute of the quarter. Keleigh Clausius scored the decisive goal with under two minutes left in the game, poking the ball into the net after a scrum in front of the goal following a penalty corner. This gave the Golden Wolves their sixth goal of the night, and a 6-1 victory.
 
Keim was the lone goalscorer for the Colonels, while defensively Eidel made six saves in the game.
 
Alvernia had six different goalscorers, but Miller led the team in assists with two.
 
The Colonels return home to Bruggeworth Field on Sunday, September 10^th to take on Wells College at 12 p.m.