(Galloway, NJ) – Richard Stockton (12-8) saw their best season in school history come to a disappointing conclusion as the third-seeded Ospreys fell in overtime to sixth-seeded Delaware Valley (13-7) 4-3 in Stockton's first ECAC tournament game ever. Stockton erased a two-goal deficit in the last four minutes of regulation but was foiled in OT.
 
Susie Balidemaj (Hamilton/Steinert) added to her school records by scoring twice to give her 19 goals on the season and 56 in her career. Cassie Kirk (Middletown/Middletown South) contributed a goal and an assist. Stockton outshot Delaware Valley 28-13 and out-cornered the Aggies 27-5 but still came up short on the scoreboard. Delaware Valley goalkeeper Sandra Edwards stood tall against the Stockton pressure with 14 saves and Lydia Spakosky chipped in with two defensive saves. Stockton goalie Liz Stankiewicz (Freehold Twp./Freehold Twp.) finished with six stops.
 
Stockton pressed the attack right from the start with advantages of 7-1 in shots and 6-1 in penalty corners during the first 21 minutes, but the Ospreys could not capitalize. Delaware Valley seized the momentum later in the half and took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Taylor Pritchett with 1:45 left in the period.
 
Stockton regained control at the start of the second half and quickly cashed in as Balidemaj scored with an assist by Kirk 3:04 into the stanza for a 1-1 tie. The Ospreys continued to force the action but were repeatedly denied, including once by the post on a shot by Balidemaj and later on a defensive save from Spakosky on a blast by Brittany Iveson (Barnegat/Barnegat). Delaware Valley regained the edge at 2-1 at 48:59 as Jessica Summers scored on just the Aggies' third shot of the half.
 
After Stockton reeled off the next seven shots of the contest, Summers scored again on Delaware Valley's first shot in 14:47 to put the Ospreys in a 3-1 hole with 5:14 to play. Balidemaj converted on a penalty stroke with 3:46 on the clock and Kirk poked in a rebound just 37 seconds later to pull Stockton into a 3-3 tie and force overtime.
 
Stockton began the overtime with two shots and two penalty corners but again could not find the net. Pritchett then scored her second goal of the game on the Aggies' first shot of extra time 3:32 into the period to advance Delaware Valley to the ECAC semifinals and end Stockton's season, 4-3.
 
The 2013 campaign will go down in school history as the best season yet for the Stockton field hockey program. The Ospreys set school records with 12 victories overall and three NJAC wins. They also qualified for the NJAC playoffs for the first time and made their first ECAC tournament appearance.