EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University field hockey team opened its 2024 season in fine fashion as three different Colonels scored on way to a 3-2 non-conference victory over Oswego State Saturday afternoon at Schmidt Stadium.
 
Wilkes improved to 1-0 on the year while Oswego dropped to 1-1 on the young season. In a rematch of a thrilling 3-2 Colonels win last season, Wilkes earned its second consecutive victory over the Lakers.
 
Lexie Nevel (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) put the Colonels on the board first with a goal off a rebound from a shot from Bridget Rosenfeld (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) 1:50 in the game. Morgan Hermanoski, the Colonels leading returning scorer, made it 2-0 3:03 in the contest when she blasted a shot from the middle of the circle that beat the Lakers goalie.
 
The Lakers scored their first goal just over a minute into the second quarter to cut the lead in half. Kellie Scott (Northport, ME/Kents Hill) then pushed it back to a two-goal advantage when she deposited a shot to the back of the cage off a Morgan Millard (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg Area) pass in the middle of the circle just before the halftime horn sounded.
 
Oswego began a late comeback scoring its second tally of the game at the 53:17 mark, but the Colonels strong defense held on to secure the season opening win with two straight corners to seal the home victory.
 
Isabel Snyder (Bloomsburg, PA/Central Columbia) and Olivia Wickel (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) made their collegiate debuts in net for Wilkes as Snyder played 36:40 finishing with five saves and the win while Wickel notched 23:20 minutes with one stop.
 
Wilkes travels to Williams Patterson University for another non-conference matchup in Wayne, NJ on Wednesday with game time set for 7:00 p.m.