Saturday, Sept. 16, the Elizabethtown College field hockey team played a hard-fought game at Washington & Lee University.
Despite the team’s best efforts, the game went into a 0-0 overtime and the Generals managed to score the winning shot.
Junior goalie Margo Donlin had an outstanding match, making a career-high 13 saves and defending the Blue Jays until the last minute of the game.
Both teams had five penalty corners, but WLU commanded the field for most of 73 minutes. This did not downplay the defense’s incredible performance which Donlin said “has been playing exceptionally well lately, specifically [juniors] Kendra Downey, Maggie Fees and Renee Grill.” Etown’s hustle paid off, pushing the game into overtime.
Head Coach Brandy Michaels agreed with praise of the defense, but said “we need to generate more offense.”
The Generals had 21 shots, while the Blue Jays only had six. “We had several opportunities to score but were unable to execute once we got into the circle,” senior Megan Eppley said.
The match, however, was played on AstroTurf, increasing the speed of the game. Over 300 fans were on the edge of their seats watching enthusiastically for the duration of the game.
During the 68th minute, Lauren Paolano from WLU received a yellow card. That did not discourage the Generals, as the match ended when Annalise Thole scored the winning goal. Haley Tucker had the assist, crossing the ball in front of the net to Thole. Unfortunately, Donlin, the last line of defense, was unable to stop the ball.
The Jays’ defense has repeatedly shown their dedication and ability and the offense is well-prepared for their next game.
Wednesday, Sept. 20, the Jays played a tough game on the road against York College, falling to the Spartans 8-2.
York scored their first goal only three minutes into the first half. By halftime, the Spartans were up 3-0 on the Blue Jays.
Senior Emma Christman was the first player to score one for Etown. Christman, with an assist from Eppley, scored early in the second half, making the score 4-1 York.
With 10 minutes left in the game, the ball deflected off graduate student Addie Stang, allowing sophomore second-half substitute Abby Spessard to score her first career goal for the Jays.
Etown had 4 shots to York’s 29 and only three corners compared to York’s 16. With this loss, the women (3-4) are now on a three game losing-streak.
Saturday, Sept. 23, the women will have a chance to redeem themselves when they return to Wolf Field to begin Landmark Conference play against Drew University at 1 p.m.
