Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and the 3-2 win by the Leopards over the Stags of Fairfield was certainly a great effort by the whole team, but a hat trick by freshman Stella Malinowski and a key stop of a penalty stroke ( not to mention her other 5 saves) gave the team and the coaches reason to jump for joy at the out come.
The game had all the drama a spectator could want in an afternoon. Augustine Casteluchi opened the scoring for the Stags off a feed by Catalina Ness with about 6 minutes into the first period. The Leopard faithful had to wait for 19 minutes before Malinowski was to strike her first goal of the afternoon, after a feed from India Ralph on a penalty corner. Lafayette seemed to have control of the game, keeping most play in the first half in the neighborhood of the Fairfield goal. The first half ended in a 1-1 draw, but most Lafayette fans seemed confident going into the second half.
Despite earning an early second half penalty corner Lafayette failed to convert on the effort, and Fairfield lept into a counter attack which resulted in a go ahead goal a 31:17 penalty corner of their own, making the score 2-1. Fairfield went to sort of match up zone and were able to disrupt the passing of the Leopards but, Fragomeni was to come up with key saves turning away the experienced Fairfield attack!
Fairfield continued to concentrate on the Lafayette stars of Leneke Spaans and Josephine van Wijk but Lafayette kept the Fairfield defense off balance, as Lafayette’s offense found open players. A shot by Catalina Rubel at 39:15 got blocked, but Malinowski alertly found the rebound and planted a nifty lift past the Stag goalkeeper tying the score at 2-2 going into the fourth period.
The fourth period has been a strong period for Lafayette all year and this was to be no exception. Having gotten 4 shots in the third, Lafayette looked to step it up….and they did in heroic fashion. At 56:55 Stella Malinowski was to complete her hat trick during a corner assisted by Katie Gibb. Lafayette 3 Fairfield 2!!
However the drama was not done. At 58:15 the Stags were awarded a corner. It seemed to be blocked, but the officials called a penalty stroke. The call was video reviewed but Raffi Fragomeni in the end, still face a point blank shot. The Lafayette goal keeper made a wonderful stick save. There was still one more save to be made at 59:28 leaving the score 3-2 in favor of the Leopards.
During the game, I counted at least 4 successful video challenges by the Leopards, proving the worth of the system. The League has notified its members that Boston University and Colgate will be installing video referral this season. No doubt the entire league will be on referral before long!!
The game was followed by an outstanding team tailgate at the shelter by the Kamine Field House hosted by the parents.
Lafayette’s third full time coach finally cleared hurdles to entry to the United States last night, and arrived in time to assist in the game. I will leave it to the staff and the school to divulge all his details this week.
The next game will be in DC against the American Eagles. They lost today to Cornell 1-2 in overtime. This will be another high stakes meeting with a Patriot League rival. American is also 1-0 in PL play having beaten Colgate on Friday.
Go Pards!!
Lafayette College Field Hockey 