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The Oswego State field hockey team survived a late surge from visiting Houghton to win its home opener 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at South Athletic Field.  Kelly Collins (Jr., Fairport, N.Y.) paced the Lakers with two goals in the first half, while the defense held off the Highlander offense in the latter stages of the second half to preserve the victory.  Oswego State, which improved to 1-1 overall, will host Utica on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m.  Houghton suffered its first loss of the season to move to 2-1.

Collins carried the ball up the field after receiving a pass from Sara Budde (Jr., Appleton, N.Y.) before putting home her first goal of the season four minutes into the contest.  The Lakers took a two-goal lead at the 20:02 mark when Brittany Roetzer (Sr., Akron, N.Y.) found Collins in front of the net.  However, Houghton pulled to within one goal before the end of the half when Rachel Stefanski put in a rebound after Oswego State goalkeeper Jamie Scharfe (Jr., Webster, N.Y.) stopped Jennifer Huyett's initial shot of off a penalty corner.

Early in the second half, Roetzer pushed the Oswego State margin back to two goals with an unassisted goal.  The Highlanders picked up the pressure later in the period resulting in a goal by Sierra Mitchell to make the score 3-2 with 24 minutes remaining to play.  Houghton continued to keep the ball in its offensive end, but the Lakers scored an insurance goal at the 58:35 mark when Budde took advantage of a pass from Katie Mazuchowski (Jr., Tonawanda, N.Y.) to seal the win.

Coach Brandi Ostrander's squad finished the game with 22 shots compared to 14 for the visiting squad.  Scharfe ended the day with nine saves, while Hillery Duman registered 12 saves for Houghton.