The Leopards were not going to be denied an opening day win, as they clawed and fought against the reigning MAAC champion to end up with a well deserved win at Rappolt Field tonight. They denied Fairfield a consistent offensive surge. In the game, Lafayette had 11 shots to Fairfield’s 3, 6 corners to Farfield’s 1, as the black attired Leopards forced most of the game to be played in Fairfield’s end of the field.
The opening goal for Lafayette came off the stick of junior Rosie Shanks, who after a corner attempt took advantage of several rebounds and finally place the ball passed the Fairfield goalie at only 4:24 into the game. The crowd roared and cheered in approval as the boisterous, encouraging audience of parents, fellow students, fellow athletes, and fans were treated all evening to this team that was not to be denied. The tenacity of Lafayette would be tested at the 24:17 mark as Emma Clark was to trickle in a goal knotting the score at 1-1. But the Leopards dug in, earning another corner with less than 1 1/2 minutes to go in the half as freshman Lisa Van der Geest got the first goal of her Leopard career, powering a shot, rolling past the Fairfield goalie. Van der Geest benefited from an assist from sophomore Liza Welch ( who earned the first points of her career) and junior Ellen Colbourne.
In the second half, the Fairfield fans came to life, as their star player Ann Burgoyne sprinted to the circle and received a half field pass from teammate Sam Giordano and planted a goal tying the score once again, about 14 minutes into the second half. However, it took the Leopards just short of 2 minutes to answer, as freshman Rosa Jonckheer shook off a defender at the top of the circle and slapped an unassisted goal, registering the first points of her career at Lafayette.
From then on it was up to the swarming tough Leopard defense to hold off the Stags as they were unable to find an answer to the Jonckheer goal for the remaining 15 minutes of the game. The game ended as the Stags had pulled their goalie, inserting another field player, in the hope of once again tying the game, but Lafayette was to tie up Fairfield and they were never to see the Lafayette end of field for the rest of the game.
After the game, I talked briefly with the the goal scorers, Shanks, Van der Geest, and Jonckheer. All remarked how delighted they were with the win, and even volunteered some things that they could be doing better. The three praised their teammates, and were delighted with the victory they all shared tonight. Coach Stone used her entire bench of field players again, as everyone was rewarded for the last two weeks of hard work!
During the game, it was the teamwork of the Lafayette side that was demonstrated again and again with senior captain Amanda Magadan as the glue that kept it all together. She frustrated the visitors all evening with her remarkable ball control, dominating play on offense and defense. In an interview after the game, she praised her teammates pointing out their emerging depth. Coach Stone feels strongly there are even better things to come, as the Leopards will meet their second MAAC opponent next friday at Monmouth. They then will return home to face Longwood University on sunday at 12 noon.The Longwood game will again be streamed live, Monmouth will not.
Some notes:
In the last game with Fairfield on November 1, 2003 Jackie Kane was the Fairfield coach and Coach Jennifer Stone was the on field, but as a player in the 2-0 win. She had 10 shots but no goals in that effort. Goals were scored by Melissa Hoh,and Maggie DeFilippo.
The Patriot League had a successful day as every team in the league had a victory!
