HOUGHTON, NY – The Nazareth Field Hockey team fell behind early against Empire 8 foe Houghton Saturday and despite outplaying the Highlanders in the second half, dropped a 2-0 decision on the road.

The Highlanders (8-2 overall, 4-0 Empire 8) had a 13-1 shots advantage in the first half and scored a goal in each of the first two quarters for the early lead. Houghton scored first with 1:21 left in the first quarter.

Freshman goalie Mackenzie Halliday kept Nazareth (1-9, 1-3) in the game with six saves in the first 15 minutes of play. She finished with nine saves on the day.

Six minutes into the second quarter, Houghton scored its second goal to double the lead and the teams headed to the halftime break at 2-0.

In the second half, Nazareth turned the tables and took over the offensive momentum with a 9-1 shots advantage over the final two quarters but the offense could not find the back of the cage and dropped the 2-0 decision.

Senior Grace Wasileski led Nazareth with four shots while freshman Audra Meiczkowski and sophomore Madison Chodkowski added two shots each to pace the offense.

Nazareth returns to action Wednesday night at William Smith and returns to Empire 8 play Friday night at Russell Sage in Albany.