Field hockey (4–1, 2–1 NESCAC) clinched two straight victories last weekend, topping Trinity 1-0 in the fourth quarter on Saturday and defeating St. John Fisher in a 4-0 shutout on Sunday.
“I’m especially proud of [the St. John Fisher] game because we played so hard against Trinity [the day before] in the same heat and pressure and we brought that same energy to the field both days,” head coach Alix Barrale ’93 said. “Overall it was a great weekend for us and I hope we can keep this upward trajectory heading into our next games.”
The women started off Saturday’s game on defense, pushing away Bantam forwards, who maintained possession throughout the first quarter. The Bantams closest shot in the quarter came at 14:16, when Caroline Curtin fired a shot at the goal from inside the circle. Eph keeper Abby Lloyd ’20 knocked it away and to an Eph defender quickly. The first quarter would be a solely a defensive one; the Ephs took no shots.
As the second quarter started, the Eph offense found its footing with Emma Ticknor ’20 taking the team’s first shot of the game at 19:22. Bantam goalie Emma Cropper managed to block the shot, but the saved shot did its job, firing up the rest of the Eph offense. At 19:50, Emma Batchelor ’23 took a shot, but was just wide of the net. Simone Veale ’21 kept the momentum going with a shot of her own at 21:26, but was turned away by Cropper. At the half, the Ephs out-shot the Bantams 4-3, while keepers Lloyd and Cropper had two saves each.
In the third quarter, Veale took control, firing the first two shots of the quarter for the Ephs, going just wide of the net and eventually being blocked by Cropper. From there, the Bantams made an effort down the field, but came up short of converting from several penalty corners to goals. Claire Fitzpatrick ’21 regained possession for the Ephs in the circle and fired a shot at 44:20, but it was knocked away by Cropper.
As the Ephs and Bantams scorelessly headed into the final quarter, Fitzpatrick became laser-focused on the goal. Just shy of two minutes into the quarter, she put the Ephs up 1-0, scoring the only goal of the game, off of a pass from Kate Gregory ’22. With the lead on their side, the Ephs offense did not let up, with Fitzpatrick and Gregory firing three shots in total, all saved by Cropper. But the one goal proved to be enough for the Ephs, as the clock ticked down and the Bantam threat was quieted.
The next day, the women defeated the St. John Fisher Cardinals 4-0, allowing no shots on goal by the Cardinals during the match.
The Eph offense started off strong, taking possession early and testing Cardinal goalie Kelly Bergamo with two shots by Ticknor and Veale. Both shots hit the goalie’s pads, but the Ephs kept the pressure on. After bringing the ball back into the circle, Veale made a pass to Batchelor who sent the ball into the back of the net to put the Ephs up 1-0 at 6:31.
Shea van de Broek ’23 then made a solid pass to Fitzpatrick who sent a hard shot past Bergamo to extend the Eph lead to 2-0 at 12:49. The first quarter ended with the Ephs totaling four shots on goals, while the Cardinals had none.
The Ephs kept the momentum up into the second quarter, as Veale fired a ball toward the goal within the first minute and was barely blocked by Bergamo. The resulting rebound caused a penalty corner for the Ephs. After receiving the pass from Batchelor, Isabel Perry ’20 took a hard shot from the edge of the circle and struck the post at 15:59. The Cardinals were able to push the Ephs out momentarily, but Batchelor remained steadfast in the circle, gathering the ball and making a short pass to Fitzpatrick who scored her second goal of the day, at 17:48, securing a 3-0 lead. Ticknor soon found herself in possession and fired the ball at Bergamo, who quickly blocked the shot. However, Ticknor took the rebound and shot it to the back of the net for a 4-0 lead at 23:40.
The Cardinals’ best chance of the half came from a penalty corner at 26:56, but it was not converted into a shot. The half ended with the Ephs up 4-0, with keeper Lloyd not needing to defend a shot. Cardinal keeper Bergamo had 4 saves for the half.
As the third quarter began, the Ephs buckled down to defend their lead as the offense looked to expand upon it. After a series of five penalty corners and four resulting shots, the Cardinal defense kept the ball out of the net with two defensive blocks and two saves from Bergamo. Gregory, after firing two shots at 34:06 and 34:53, was given a green card and a 2-minute penalty.
With no shots coming from the Cardinals in the third quarter, the match headed into the final 15 minutes. Molly Lohss ’21 took a hard shot at the goal after two penalty corners, but was blocked by a Cardinal defender. The Cardinals had their final chance with a penalty corner at 49:18. Reghan Amoroso hit the only shot of the game for the Cardinals at 48:41, but the ball went just wide of the net, securing the shutout win for the Ephs.
The Ephs’ next matchup will be at Springfield College on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 pm.
