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.
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.
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!!
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.
Lafayette College Field Hockey 