Month: October 2024

Lafayette Soars To Stone’s 100th Win Against Boston University

Five Leopards Score In 5-0 Statement Win

Josephine Van Wijk, Lineke Spaans, India Ralph, Alex Darrah, and Stella Malinowski combined to give the Leopards a 10-6 record while on the doorstep of the post season. The Leopards exploded for 22 shots while holding off Boston’s nationally recognized vaunted penalty corner offense resulting in another shutout for GK Raffi Fragomeni and the Lafayette defense.

DPC defense is a wall

The game was filled with pageantry as US Olympian Amanda Golini returned to the Lafayette pitch to be lauded by her former teammates, alumni, and fans. It was another nice crowd of 428 filling the stands who were treated to a dominating win demonstrating all the skill and promise I thought would emerge during this season.

Josephine avoids defenders

The first quarter was a probing one as the Leopards looked for weaknesses in the Boston defense. It was a well planned strategy that finally resulted in the first goal 7 minutes into the second quarter goal by van Wijk assisted by Ralph, and Spaans during a penalty corner.

Leneke Spaans explodes downfield

The one goal lead was to stand up through half time until Lineke Spaans was to finally explode after stealing the ball and landing a pull around shot against the Terrier goalkeeper.

The fourth period was to be decisive as the solid India Ralph took an assist from Josephine van Wijk to start on onslaught of a 3 goal fourth quarter. Within a period of four minutes the score would be 5-0 as Alec Darrah assisted by Mackenzie Hall and Stella Malinowski would put in a coup de grace to this dominating performance.

The Leopards will now move on to Maryand to play Towson on Sunday. The effort against the Terriers rewarded the Leopards with a 25th RPI record in the national division one record, and a performance worthy of a postseason nod!!

Leopard Celebrate Senior Day With Win Over Number 20 Temple

Coaches Celebrate Win

As the first fall Lafayette team to qualify for post season action, the Leopards got into the mood by knocking off Temple in an exciting overtime win in Easton. All five seniors started the game which opened with a dominating first quarter getting off a 5 shots to none for Temple. The most important shot was a Stella Malinowski penalty stroke at 11:57 which put the Leopards up 1-0.

Spanns gets ready to drive the baseline

Lafayette continued to dominate defensively with a 12-7 edge in shots for the whole game. However, the Owls did kick it into higher gear and scored a tying goal early, 35 seconds into the fourth quarter. This was indeed a contest worthy of the post season as the game went back and fourth for the remainder of regular time.

Spaans Steps Up

As the game went to overtime, the seven vs seven overtime format hindered the normal zone defense of Temple, as Lafayette and Spanns found space to utilize her speed. Fans were treated to her slashing style eluding defenders along the base line. The Lafayette faithful held their breath as the official held his whistle as Owl defenders tried all the could to stop her from dodging multiple players. As the Temple goalkeeper went to ground Spanns took a Darrah pass, pulled back and lifted the ball into the net.

Having qualified for the post season along with American, Bucknell and Boston, the Leopards are still in the hunt for hosting depending in part on the outcome of next week’s American game at Bucknell. American lost yesterday to Brown 2-1.

Lafayette Offense Struggles In 1-0 Loss To Number 15 UMass

The Leopards went to head to head with the visiting Minute Women, falling by one goal for the second consecutive meeting. UMass did out shoot Lafayette 9-5, as they used a strong second half to overcome the defensive stalemate in the first half. The Minute Women were able to control play and by adding two penalty corners to Lafayette’s none in the fourth quarter.

It was even more remarkable given that Lafayette held, for a time an advantage of three field players due to two cards by UMass and with Coach Stone pulling the Lafayette goalkeeper. Lafayette keeper Fragomeni had 3 saves during the contest.

So does this look like the GK is going for ball….I think not!!!!!

The winning goal came at 45 seconds into the final period during a penalty corner. The Minute Women played a very physical game, often pressing the Leopards especially in the second half. Lafayette’s shots came from two by Leneke Spaans, two from Lea Good, and one from Laila Pasic.

There was strong defensive play from Makenzie Switzer and co captain India Ralph. The Leopards will now move on with a League bye next week and meeting Drexel and Temple before a big game with Boston University in two weeks!

Leopards Roll Against Lehigh 5-0

Stella Malinowski attacks the circle

In a demonstration unlike any other this season, the Leopards put it all together for the 500 fans in attendance. The 5-0 score may have underscored the dominance Lafayette had all game, but it didn’t tell the whole story. It was a game of defense, offense. and personnel depth. Sophomore forward Stella Malinowski was the statistically dominant player of the night with two goals and an assist, but it was “all hands on deck,” as the Leopards just crushed it with speed, team play, and aggressiveness.

Lafayette executes on an OPC

Lafayette had 18 shots to Lehigh’s 3, they were tied in penalty corners, but each corner became offensive opportunities, Fragomeni was perfect in the goal, and scoring was spread around to four players with assists from three different Leopards. As an example of aggressive play, the Leopards had 46 fouls to Lehigh’s 28 and at one point they were down two players on the field due to cards, and Lehigh still could not find a scoring solution. The mountain hawks never gave up playing, but tonight was Leopard night.

Scoring was opened up at 6:04 into the contest with Malinowski delivering on a penalty stroke, to put Lafayette out front, which they would never cede. Lineke Spanns, who was guarded closely all game delivered the second strike with a spectacular drive across the Lehigh goal dodging several players, and putting the Lehigh goalkeeper on her back foot. Lafayette 2-0 at 14:26 into the game.

Trying to shut down Spanns proved to be futile as Lea Good took an assist by Josephine van Wijk at 16:07 as the offense avalanche continued with a deft strike to the back of the cage.

Lafayette reentered the game after halftime as Alex Darrah ( who seems always to be at the right place) delivered a Stella Malinowski assist, to put the Leopards up 4 with 29 minutes to play in the game. Malinowski finished her night with a goal assisted by co-captain India Raph at 37:26.

In other Patriot League action the American Eagles beat BU 2-0 after taking 26 shots on the road to continue their undefeated league record. Bucknell rolled against Colgate to keep pace with the Leopards in second place, as their last game of the season with ‘American looms large to break the logjam at the top of the standings.

The Leopards will have a league bye next week. and then will meet BU at home which may lock in a place in the PL tournament. The Bucknell/ American game may well initiate going to tiebreakers for the top seed. Just wait…..your head could explode with the possibilities.

In the meantime, Lafayette will meet the ranked UMASS minutemen ( or women) on Sunday which, believe it or not could be a factor in tie breakers. In any case it could help the Leopards break into the top 30!!

Lafayette Downs Providence On The Way to Seven And Four

Leneke Spanns sparks 2-1 victory

Before 307 fans, the Leopards pleased their audience with a 2-1 win. The first half looked like it was going to be a blowout and the first half statistics bear that out. Lafayette out shot the Providence Friars 12-0, out cornered them. 5-3 and outscored them 2-0 even after a deflected penalty stroke. They controlled time in the circle, and seemed by these eyes to dominate play.

Josephine van Wijk powers past Providence

It was only 6:11 into the game when Alex Darrah got her second goal of the weekend. It was a Spanns’ circle penetration and shot, when Darrah found the rebound and delivered it past the Providence goal keeper allowing Lafayette to establish the early lead. The home team Leopards delighted with 7 shots in that opening period. At 7:43 it looked like another point would be added as a result of a penalty stroke as the Providence keeper turned the shot away

Lila Pasic introduces herself to a Friar

The action did not stop in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Spanns took one of her 7 shots in the game and this time connected from the right side of the goal mouth, making the score 2-0 with under 8 minutes left in the half. Providence did manage 3 corners but the Lafayette DPC squad successfully kept the Friars 0 on the scoreboard.

It was the second half when Providence came alive, as perhaps they were thinking about that long homeward trek on I-95 ahead of them. In any case, they came out energized and threw a “zone and high press” at the Leopards and it began to have its effect on ball possession as they began to have more time in their scoring circle. Although they still only had 2 corners in the second half, they did have 5 shots to the Leopards 4.

Suddenly, with 11 minutes ticked off in third quarter Carly Van Benten from Providence found an opening that put the game at 2-1. Leopards needed to redouble their defensive efforts and shut down Providence for the rest of the game. Shots and corners remained level between the teams as Providence continued to try to get the extra goal to tie it up. In one last effort with under 5 minutes to go. Providence pulled their goal keeper as the Leopard defense stiffened, and the final horn sounded giving the Lafayette their win and the 7-4 record.

The Leopards used 23 players during the afternoon as they continue to display strong bench strength. On Friday, Lehigh comes to town not only as an intent rival but a competitor in the Patriot League. It is a key contest as neither team can afford the loss!! A third League win for the Leopards keeps them in the hunt for home field, not to say a place in the league championship tournament.

The American Eagles nearly lost their game with Colgate yesterday but pulled out.a miracle win with one second left on the clock 3-2. They still have yet to play Boston and Bucknell.

But next week, it’s Lehigh our heroines need to focus on.

Lafayette Shows Character With 2-0 Win At Bucknell

Spanns delivers the ball in the circle

The first half of this game looked like overtime was inevitable. Both teams spent most of the first 30 minutes between the 30 yard lines. They had three shots each, while Bucknell had 3 penalty corners while Lafayette had single time with a corner chance. Bucknell’s defense was all it was cracked up to be, and their team speed was impressive. The two players that attracted the most attention were number 12 Lily Neilson from Bucknell who had 4 shots , and number 8 Lineke Spaans from Lafayette, who had no shots was central to getting the ball to circle. Spaans was surrounded by 3 Bison for most of game but managed to break free from time to time. Neilson was well contained one on one by the Leopards, but was clearly on their minds.

Mackenzie Hall holds off a Bucknell defender

It was number 19 Josephine van Wijk, who had the most shots for the Leopards (5), but couldn’t seem to connect, despite being on goal for 4 of them. Lena Thedrian was a key player on defense and contributed 4 shots during the game. Despite the fine defensive play by the Bison it was my impression that the Leopards relentless play began to wear them down eventually. Shots in second half were 12 to 6 in the Leopard’s favor.

With less than 3 minutes left in the third quarter Katie Gibb found a rebound off of two shots during a penalty corner. The umpire could have called another PC for Lafayette but held his whistle as an excellent official should. The Leopard’s took the first lead of the game.

Josephine van Wijk scoots around a Bucknell defender

Bucknell was not giving up, but the visiting team scored again with 8:20 left in the game as Alex Darrah found the back of the net with the help of a perfect pass from Laila Pasic after two other shots at the cage. It should be noted that both came off the bench seconds before the goal!!

DPC unit had a good night

Goalkeeper Raffi Fragomeni had a very good night, not only getting the shutout but by using her kickers to direct the ball. In my opinion, this was the best effort by this Lafayette team of the year. It was a wonderful turnaround after losing 2 tough game last weekend. The importance of the game cannot be overstated as this drops Bucknell out the League unbeaten ranks and gives Lafayette two victories with 3 League games to play. Lafayette and Bucknell are now tied with a 1 game loss in the League. This Bison team is a fine team, and in my opinion could very well beat American later in the season.