Month: August 2023

Lafayette Travels To New England..First Stop Vermont

It’s a bunch of firsts for Lafayette as they they make their first extended trip of the season to New England to meet two opponents not seen for at least 10 years, the University of Vermont and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Under 9th year coach Katie Pfeifer Vermont had two back to back winning seasons. Last year the Cattamounts went 13-5 and 5-3 in the American East Conference. They finished 4th in their conference. This year they were a preseason number 6 conference pick by SID’s and coaches.

Looking under the hood a little, Vermont returns two all rookie team selections, number 15 Sophie LaFranc from Munich , and number 22 Mora Fernandez de Olivera from Buenos Aries. If that isn’t enough, they also have all league selections number 28, 6 footer,Alina Gerke from Hamburg, and Sophie Drees number 23 from Bremen Germany. Vermont also could benefit from an interesting transfer from Division 2 Lotte Kanters. who led the the division in goals last year. She is from the Netherlands.

Both teams come into the match at 1-1, Vermont having beat Sacred Heart 6-2 and losing to number 8 ranked Syracuse 9-1. Against Sacred Heart the Catamounts scored 6 goals on 13 shots ( 10 on goal) to dominate the game. One goal was scored by LeFranc ( on 4 shots), 2 from Drees ( on 2 shots), 2 from Gerke on 2 shots, and one from Fernandez de Olivera on 2 shots. Vermont had 3 saves on 5 shots on goal and earned 5 corners.

Against Syracuse it was tough going losing 9-1. The single goal was from Lefranc on her only shot of the game. Total shots were 5. Reggie Hillary had 1 shot, Lefranc had 1, Drees had 2, and Haley Buffenbarger had the remaining one.

In the goal, Lauren Halenkamp faced 27 shots, 16 SOG and saving 5. Syracuse out cornered Vermont 11-5

Both teams hope to end Friday at 2-1 and although this is a non- conference game they hope to set the the tone for the season by bouncing back.

The game starts at 3 o’clock and will be live streamed,

GO PARDS

Lafayette Outnumbered In 4-1 Loss To Ohio State

The Ohio State Buckeyes brought their 33 player squad to the Leopards and were able to execute a sustained press using 22 players to bottle up the Lafayette offense for most of the game. It was a hot and humid afternoon and the Ohio State coaching staff were able to substitute liberally to reenergize a very aggressive press which kept the Leopards off balance.

Lea Good controls the ball

Ohio’s Makenna Webster struck first using an assist by Anne Marie Krebs at 26:52 into the game, only to be followed by a second goal two minutes later, to give the Buckeye’s a 2-0 lead going into the first half. Using the strength of 6 corners and 12 shots the Buckeyes were countered by the Leopards who were only able to muster 2 shots and one corner during the first half.

In the second half, the Leopards were able to get off 6 shots to Ohio State’s 2 in the third quarter, one of which connected at 32:53. Stella Malinowski, a Lafayette first year scored the first Lafayette goal at 43:54 to earn the first goal of her career while closing the gap to 3-1. OSU finished the scoring with a goal at 46:57.

Mackensie Hall moves the ball upfield

Saves were the same at 5 a piece and the majority of the goals were made off of scrums in front of each cage. The tone was set early on, as OSU made their fist substitutions in the fourth and fifth minute of the contest, bringing in 7 players off the bench which provided the energy to sustain the close guarding of Lafayette’s playmakers. Malinowski was able to get off 4 shots, 3 on goal to lead the Leopards, including her score. Freshman Lea Good and Sophomore Catalina Robel provided the balance of shots in the game.

The Leopards will have gained experience, as they travel for the first of two away games in New England against the University of Vermont (1-1) on Friday followed by UMass Amherst (2-0) on Sunday. Vermont bested Sacred Heart 6-2 on Friday and lost to Syracuse 9-1 on Sunday. UMass finished the weekend undefeated by beating Albany 3-2 in double overtime and Quinnipiac 2-1. They will be playing Harvard on Friday before meeting the Leopards.

The rest of the Patriot League had mixed results as Bucknell lost to Temple 2-1, American lost in overtime to Penn State 3-2, Colgate beat Rider 2-1 in overtime and Lehigh beat Ball State 4-3. Holy Cross did not play and remained with zero defeats based on their 1-0 overtime win on Friday.

Spaans, van Wijk, and Rubel Provide Opening Day Fireworks in 5-0 win.

In a display of speed and power the Leopards delighted an opening day crowd with an offense not seen for years by the home folks. I have to admit I was a little concerned after I wrote the pregame piece on the Seahawks. They are a reconstructed team with 5th year and graduate students, and sprinkled with a group of international players. But from the opening push, my doubts were put to rest as a clinic using amazing athletic skill, and speed was evident in the Leopards tonight.

It was only 5:10 into the contest when Leneke Spaans, with the sun at her back, delivered a strike over the head of the opposing goal keeper. The last time I saw a strike like that was 50 years ago while in the navy, when an F-14 came out of the sun at supersonic speed, and delivered a payload on the beach. Leneke set the tempo for this team and it was clear it was to be followed later on, by a group effort on both sides of the ball.

Leopards fans had to wait for 18 and 1/2 minutes for Catalina Rubel’s contribution to the score, with a rebounded flick that made the score 2-0. Five minutes later Josephine van Wiik took a feed from co-captain India Ralph during a penalty corner, giving the home town folks a 3-0 lead. Alex Darrah had taken a shot, which was saved by Sam Block, the Wagner goal keeper, eventually leading to another penalty corner after a video review. Wagner had an unsuccessful video challenge themselves on the goal and the halftime score was left at 3-0.

After halftime Spaans again struck at 32:36 with a reverse chip making the score 4-0. The scoring was not to end until van Wijk made it 5-0 after a Katie Gibb feed on a penalty corner.

It was not just offensive fireworks that brought the win home, the defense and midfield kept the Seahawks at bay. Lena Thedrian, Katie Gibb, Laine Delmonte, and Stella Malinowski were busy intercepting passs and turning around the Wagner attack. Have no doubt, this was a team effort no matter who was in the game. Raffi Fragomeni recored her first shut out in the win turning back Wagner with two saves on four shots.

The Leopards took 15 shots to Wagner’s 4, and had 5 corners to Wagner’s single corner in the second period. Each team used 16 players in the contest. Sunday, the Leopards will take on Ohio State at 3:30

After coming home I watched some of the Ohio State vs Lehigh contest, which Lehigh lost 5-2. I didn’t think Lehigh was as bad or Ohio State as dominant as the score may indicate. Ohio State scored in bunches and used the press effectively. They deflected ball into the cage and often had an attacking player positioned at the post.

Around the league Boston lost to Michigan State on the back of early scores in the first period by Michigan State. Holy Cross beat Stonehill in a driving rain in double overtime, Colgate lost a heartbreaker to Central Michigan 3-2, Bucknell had a disappointing loss to Drexel 4-0 and American looked very strong in beating Ohio University.

Sunday American will welcome Penn State ( they a lost to Virginia tonight), and Bucknell will stay in Philly to take on Temple. Lehigh will host Ball State on Sunday. The Leopards will of course tangle with Ohio State at 3:30 on Sunday.

Preseason Rankings And All That

There is one thing for certain that can be said for preseason ranking….in no way will they be the same at the end of season. Each conference has nominated their predicted order of finish, and I am sure each team has justifiably ignored it as fan fun!! So far Lafayette has played in preseason games, the number one and number two teams in the CAA. The Leopards will be playing the number 2 team in the NEC on Friday.

The SID’s and coaches in the Patriot League have picked Lafayette for fourth and American first. However, nothing is more motivating for a team than to be under appreciated. Do rankings matter??? Ultimately, they could, as RPI is a strong factor in seeding for the national tournament. I happen to think this may be the year we may see two, maybe even three Patriot Teams in the top 25. I like Lafayette’s chances, and both American and Boston look strong with decent schedules. All three will be playing preseason ranked teams early on. Lafayette will play number 8 ranked Syracuse in early September.

The top twenty teams (preseason) are: UNC, Northwestern, Maryland, Michigan, PSU, Virginia, Iowa, Syracuse, Louisville, Princeton, Saint Jo’s, Wake, Harvard, Liberty, UConn, Boston College, ODU, Albany, and Duke. In my opinion, I think ODU is under rated and UNC could be challenged.

Ohio State, who finished sixth in the Big Ten last year will be bringing their 32 person squad to the Lehigh Valley to take on Lehigh on Friday and Lafayette on Sunday. There are several new coaches on the list of note, at UNC, PSU and Syracuse.

There is also a new tournament for the IVY League this year which could generate a surprise at the end. Winners of conference tournaments get automatic bids and at large bids will be decided by an evaluation committee. I thought last year ODU ( the regular season Big East conference champion) should have been in, but was defeated by Liberty in the conference tournament.

Meanwhile Lafayette has named their leadership for the season and picked two strong juniors in Leneke Spaans, and India Ralph. Anyone who has watched these two play, will recognize their leadership. They enjoy the respect of their fans, teammates and opponents.

Penn State’s Jemma Punch (23) during the game with Lafayette. The No.5 Nittany Lions defeated Lafayette, 2-1 in double overtime at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex on Sunday afternoon Oct. 9, 2022. Photo by Mark Selders

Everyone starts evenly this Friday but 50 % will be 1-0 and 50% will be 0-1 at the end of the day. A good start these next two weeks will change the above list for sure!!! BU, American, Lafayette and Lehigh will be meeting Big Ten schools this week end. Victory by the Patriot League would be a statement!!! GO PARDS

Wagner Brings 31 To Open Season At Lafayette

On the back of a 12 person recruiting class the Seahawks of Wagner bring a large contingent to face the Lafayette Leopards on Friday at 7pm. In addition, coach Niki Miller has tabbed last year’s goal tender, Daisy Ruhle as an assistant coach. Ruhle had a very credible 76 pct save percentage. However finding a new GK was not the only task Miller had in reconstructing this team that tied for the regular season title with Rider last year.

The Seahawks finished the season at 11-7 and 6-1 in the NEC. They are a preseason pick for second this year tied with Rider and behind Fairfield, last year’s tournament champion. Of the 46 goals scored last year the top 5 scorers ( accounting for 35 goals) are no longer on the team which explains the large incoming class which includes three goalkeepers including one from the Netherlands. One interesting stat was the number of offensive corners ( 146)

Number 8 Laura van Hamburg a graduate student from the Netherlands looks like their top returning scorer. Altogether, I count 5 graduate students on the roster!! There are 10 freshman on the roster 4 from western Europe.

Opening games are always intense competitive affairs and I expect much of the same this time. The Leopards seem to be working well together. The question I suppose will be the relative size of the benches friday night. This is the first game between the two schools and each will want start the season with a win!! Early goals will be a key stat on friday as will avoiding giving up corners giving the Seahawks scoring chances.

I would expect both teams to defend their 40 and try to stop circle penetrations. The Seahawks are a scouting enigma given their turnover. I would hope a nice home crowd will weigh heavy in the Leopards favor!!

Leopards End Preseason With Hard Fought Stalemate With Delaware

Katie Gibb and Mackenzie Hall were in the middle of it all afternoon

Delaware arrived at Rappolt Field prepared for a competitive outing and that’s exactly what they got in the 2 1/2 hour game like scrimmage. The Blue Hens drew first blood in the first half but the Leopards showed a diversified attack and a tenacious defense to eventually go to a 2-1 lead in the second half. Delaware tied it all up with less than a minute to go.

India Ralph and Lena Thedrian were there on defense

The two then practiced a 7 v7 showdown and that ended with no score for either side. It was then to the inevitable shoot out and quite frankly it was a that point I lost track of the scores. The school was experimenting with a new digital scoreboard at the end, which got pushed by the wind and shut down.

I will not go into scoring details but the team and coaches should be very pleased. This was indeed an opposing team in Delaware which played well and could be nationally ranked at the outset of the season. By the second quarter the Leopards looked connected and played like veterans. The Spaans,van Wijk duo was a factor all game. Katie Gibb and India Ralph advanced the ball from the defense. Mackensie Hall was in the mix…especially in the second and third quarter. Lena Thedrian again showed leadership.

The GK duo of Emma Garvey and Raffi Fragmenti were on it all game.

The Leopards now have a week to rest and prepare for Wagner on Friday and Ohio State on Sunday. There are several players who are dinged up but expect they will heal and contribute in due course.

Blue Hens Will Challenge The Leopards On Lafayette Turf

During the Revolutionary War the Men of the 2nd Co of the First Delaware Regiment under the command of Captain Jonathon Caldwell were mostly recruited in Kent County and took with them Blue game chickens. The chickens were known for their great fighting ability, and therefore the regiment became known as the Blue Hens. The University of Delaware adopted the name and in fact their agricultural school still houses and breeds Blue Hens.

There’s a lot to be learned from last year’s stats as the University of Delaware’s season became a drama in two parts. The entire season had a 10-12 record and in fact, the first 9 games left them with a 1-8 record. However, the second part of the season turned it around, as their conference record was 5-1, 3-0 at home and 2-1 away. They ended playing Lehigh in the NCAA tournament beating them 4-0 in North Carolina. In that first stretch they lost to Va., American, Monmouth, UCONN, Penn State, Princeton,Rutgers and St Joes. The best win during their winning streak was a 3-2 victory over William and Mary.

More interesting was their scoring pattern. They scored 54 goals but gave up 60 in the process. They have brought in a transfer from UNC, sophomore Kylie Walbert. In her freshman season at UNC the 5’11 goalkeeper played in virtually every game for 30 minutes each amassing a save percentage of .657 with a goal against average of 1.33.

Delaware is picked to win the CAA and three players were circled as preseason all conference, Julia Duffuiss (nbr 12), Beber Bakerman (nbr 7), and as an Honorable Mention KiKi Oudshoorn (nbr 8). Julia Duffuiss is named preseason player of the year as a defender recognizing her 14 goal contribution. I suspect she is a key player in their offense corner set.

The Lafayette corner defense will be tested

Delaware scores the most in the third quarter and gives up the most in the fourth quarter. They earned 125 corners and gave up 110. Lafayette conversely, earned 77 corners and gave up 106.

Lafayette’s record is 11-19-2 with the Blue Hens. The last win was a 4-2 win on Oct 15, 2003. The last game was a loss in 2017, although there have been exhibition games since. The first game was on Nov. 10 1977.

This will be a good test in this last exhibition game before the regular season!!

Lafayette Unveils It’s New Personality In First Scrimmage At Monmouth

Lena Thedrian move the ball upfield

Yes, I know it was only scrimmage, but I saw a lot to like this afternoon. I am a homer, but in 20 plus years of watching Leopard Field Hockey this seemed to me to be the best first outing of the season. They were fast, aggressive, tough on defense and especially impressive with the integration of our first year players. The Leopards scored 3 goals during the 4 quarter practice contest. Goals were scored by Alex Darrah on a scramble in front of the goal, Ellie Barton on a nifty reverse stick shot after a feed by Mackensie Hall, and finally Lineke Spaans rocketed the go ahead goal in the last quarter.

Leneke and the ball

Lineke was a threat all game long while she did her usual impression of the “flash.” She will be scary to opponents this season! In addition, Josephine van Wijk showed terrific skills moving the ball through the midfield and into the scoring circle. First year player Lena Thedrian was a force on defense, but also was a key contributor in starting the offense. By my observation she had 2 defensive saves!

Mackenzie Switzer showed great maturity and field presence. I’ll leave it there, and save the surprise for future opponents. However, rest assured there is more to tell. The best part is their team attitude…they are mentally tough!!!

Defense was all there as Switxer and friends defend the goal

This was no easy team in Monmouth. This afternoon they were picked as the number 2 preseason picked in the CAA. On Friday, the Leopards will meet the number one pick, Delaware. There are more surprises to come in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, the Leopards were picked to finish fourth in the Patrtiot League. Lineke Spaans, and India Ralph were picked as all conference preseason picks. The order of finish picked by coaches and school athletic PR officials is American, Boston, Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh, Holy Cross, and Colgate. We shall see!!!

Defensive toughness was apparent

GO PARDS

It’s “So Sweet The Cat”For The Leopards Versus Monmouth

Aylin Aufenacker Field Hockey vs. Fairfield 8-26-2022

The Leopards head for the Jersey shore for a scrimmage with Monmouth University on Tuesday. The field is named in honor of the donor’s favorite race horse to answer the obvious question in the title of the article. The Leopards have a had good history with Hawks having won 12 out of the 14 times the two teams have met. Of late Monmouth has been an improved team by landing in the top 25 and moving to the CAA. During last year they acquired a won loss record of 10-9 with a loss of 1-3 to Drexel in the CAA tournament.

They played an ambitious schedule which include UConn, Delaware, Rutgers, Syracuse, Harvard, Boston College, and Princeton. Their worst loss was 1-6 against Princeton and best win was 8-0 against Sacred Heart. In all, they outscored their opponents 45-33.

The last meeting with Lafayette was in 2019 in which the Leopards prevailed 2-1 in double overtime. At the time the Hawks were ranked 25 in the nation. Against Lafayette they have a 1-4 recored at home. All the games have been close affairs for the most part with the last 4 meetings showing total goals in Monmouth’s favor 5-6.

Field Hockey vs. Delaware 9-4-2022

Of the 45 goals scored last year 24 were scored by their all American Annick van Lange scoring 24. She will be on the field Tuesday but this time as a student coach!! The next two highest scorers with 5 each from last year will return. Jess Tucker a junior, number 22 from New Zealand, and graduate student Aylin Aufenacker number 10 from Hamburg, Germany will be looked upon to step up this season.

In the goal, the Hawks will be replacing Phileins Hazen who had a save percentage of 78.8. The roster shows two freshman goal keepers, Jessie Eiselin from Amsterdam and Maeve Clarke from Beverly Ma.

Coach Carli Figlio likes to run a fast break offense and I’m sure she will be trying to recapture her offensive explosiveness during the scrimmage. It should be a challenge for the reconstructing Leopard defense.

Weather is expected to be good for a 12 noon start. Both should be excited as they try to establish their personalities early on!!

Getting Ready To Compete

It’s three days before the first competition of the season and for two hours of practice I saw a very skilled group on the pitch. They all seemed fit and ready to learn and from my perch on the sidelines this practice was all about establishing a tempo of play. There is no doubt that this group has the skills. In years I have been watching the Leopards this may be one of the more collectively skilled teams that we have seen on the field.

Each drill emphasized moving and reacting, imprinting in muscle memory the actions necessary to move the ball down the field. What was most amazing was the ability of first year players to integrate into the system. Secondly, it is clear there is a commitment to succeed and to win on the field. This is an ambitious squad with some obvious ability to be led. And there are clear leaders on the field!!

Much like the football practice I witnessed several days ago there is a clear crisp plan and timing to practice with very little standing around. The team is responding with the intensity of winners! During my playing days, in football and lacrosse, preseason was two and sometimes three sessions a day. Today it seems there is an assumption of fitness and an emphasis on learning.

As hard as the team is working, there are efforts in the background to provide the support needed to be a Division one representative. You may have to trust me on this, but there are significant efforts afoot on venue, and background support as well. It’s all a race to August 25 and the first game weekend with Wagner and Ohio State.

Let there be no doubt there is dedication and hard work which will result in success. That is part of the educational experience for all involved.