Lafayette defeated the Crusaders on their new turf Saturday morning with Josephine van Wijk providing the margin of victory in an early third period goal. She was also the leading shot taker with 7 shots. It was a team effort as the defense played a key role by holding Holy Cross to no shots on goal. The Leopards had a total of 17 shots to the Crusaders 3. They had 6 on goal to the home team’s nil on goal production. The Crusader goal keeper was forced to make 5 saves. The Leopards also earned 9 corners to their opponents 2.
It was a large team effort, demonstrated by the 20 Lafayette players who earned minutes compared to 15 on who saw action on the other side. The other shot takers were Felicitas Hannes with 3, Lineke Spanns with 2 and Simone Hefting with 1. The defense played magnificently led by senior captain Hefting who set up a wall all game long. Underclassman provided much of the offensive spark while seniors were active in the backline.
The Leopards ended the season tied with Bucknell at 3-3 in the league and leading Holy Cross and Colgate in the final standings. Bucknell will appear in the playoff by virtue of their one goal win over Lafayette. The Lafayette season was highlighted by it’s win over league leading Boston University, and it’s win over 7th ranked Princeton in overtime. They also took the third ranked Penn State Lions to double overtime as well. They had 11 one goal losses during the fall campaign.
This class of seniors will be missed for their skill and leadership, but the Leopard’s will reload with added incentive and no doubt will be a challenging group in 2023.
Lafayette College Field Hockey 