It was a nail-biter at Gwynedd Mercy University on Saturday, Sept. 17, but the Blue Jays prevailed to clinch a 2-1 victory over the Griffins. Key players of the game included junior Emma Christman and sophomores Margo Donlin and Hannah Mack.
It was anyone’s game in the beginning, but the Griffins were stopped by the defense of Donlin in goal. Donlin stopped two goals to keep the score even at zero.
“It was pretty stressful at times during the game. Gwynedd Mercy was always pressuring, so I had to make sure I was on my toes,” Donlin said. “As for what was going through my head, I just tried to let my instincts take over. I try not to overthink what I’m doing because I tend to play worse when I’m in my head all the time. The team as a whole is really starting to come together, and we always have each other’s backs, which is a big part of why we were able to pull off a win yesterday.”
The offensive outburst came from Christman, who scored both goals for the Blue Jays. Christman’s third goal of the season came at 18:08 when she scored inside the shooting circle. However, Gwynedd Mercy tied things up at 49:03 with a shot from Melissa Russo. Things started getting down to the wire when the Griffins used six penalty corners, but the Blue Jay defense stayed calm and did not let up. Mack came in for Donlin to begin the second half and made a game-saving stop to preserve the tie.
“The beginning of the second half was the most intense of the half that I played,” Mack said. “We were getting drilled defensively, having corners constantly called on us. I had full confidence in my teammates that no matter how tired we were, we would not let that affect us and ultimately come up with the ball.”
“As for the game as a whole, overtime is always very intense. Anything can happen when there’s only seven players. Our coach always tells us to play as one team, not as 18 individuals,” Mack said. “I think we really honed in on that to get us the win. We all fought together in regulation and fought for nothing less than a win in overtime.”
Donlin returned to start in overtime and made a game-saving stop with 34 seconds left in overtime. This was the play of the game as it gave Christman the opportunity to score the game-winning goal on a deflection in double overtime.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Blue Jays hosted York (Pennsylvania) College at Wolf Field. Senior Charity Good scored in the 35th minute to put Etown up 1-0 in the first half. The Blue Jays would enter the break with the one goal lead.
In the second half, York’s Lindsay Nye scored in the 51st minute to knot the game at one. Just over 10 minutes later, senior Allison McLamb put the Blue Jays ahead for good and sealed the non-conference victory for Etown.
The goal was McLamb’s first of the season and could not have come at a better time for the Blue Jays. It was the second straight victory for Etown as they have gained momentum heading into their conference games.
Mack started in net for the Blue Jays and made four saves. Donlin came in for Mack in the second half and made one save on the two shots she faced.
The Blue Jays will open Landmark Conference play Saturday when they travel to Drew University to face the Rangers. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m.
