This is all about Lafayette College division one Field Hockey
Author: William Rappolt
I am past chairman of the Lafayette Friends of Field Hockey and a former BOT member at Lafayette College. My wife and I are members of the Board of Trustees for USA Field Hockey Foundation. I am currently Chairman of that Board. I am the retired treasurer of M and T Bank Corporation and a 30 year fan of Division one field hockey
It looks like both Lafayette and American head coaches were expecting an important game when they created this year’s schedule. With a Saturday game, American Head Coach Steve Jennings and Lafayette Head Coach Jennifer Stone have cleared the weekly calendar to concentrate on this important meeting. While only four teams out of the seven will make it to the playoffs it will be the regular season champion who will host. A win on Saturday will set up the victorious team nicely as both teams won their initial PL contest.
Both teams have played top 25 teams, American played and lost in close contests to Penn State and Liberty. Lafayette has lost to Ohio State and UMASS, while beating Fairfield last Sunday after winning a well contested game with Bucknell. American lost to Cornell after beating PL rival Colgate 2-1.
Lafayette will have to find their way around American GK Bryn Underwood. They have their share of stars in number 7 Boshoff and number 8 Winkler. Lafayette has its share of weapons with Leneke Spaans and Josephine van Wijk. This week the Leopards swept the weekly awards with Stella Malinowski getting player of the week and Rookie of the Week, India Ralph claimed the defensive award and GK Raffi Fragomeni was GK of the week.
American lost in the playoffs last year and certainly are looking to not only return to the playoffs but win and go on to the NCAA tournament. Lafayette lost going to playoffs last year in a tie breaker, and had to watch Lehigh win the League title.
It has not been lost on any of the participants, a win sets up the victor for the final sprint to the post season.
Coach Maura Schimp leaps in appreciation of Fragomeni save of penalty stroke
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.
Closing in on a Fairfield back
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.
Going through the Stag defense
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!!
Miraculous save by Fragomeni
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!!
Victorious coaching staff joins the tailgate celebration
The game was followed by an outstanding team tailgate at the shelter by the Kamine Field House hosted by the parents.
Perfect end to weekend with a parent’s tailgate!!
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.
It is trite to say it was a “team effort,” but I can think of no better description of tonight’s 60 minutes of excellent hockey. This was a game that was won by the Leopards rather than to say it was Bucknell’s loss. From the opening push off the game was played at tempo worthy of Division One. Every player was engaged…every Coach was contributing their best….every fan…every parent and even the Junior Clinic players on the sideline were behind the Leopards. The crowd of over 450 included alumni who traveled from Europe to cheer on their former teammates. Parents put together tailgates worthy of Lafayette’s long field hockey traditions.
From the first quarter on, the game had all the look and intensity of a playoff game. The first goal came from an Alex Darrah overhead deflection of a Lineke Spaans chip shot at 8:28 on the clock. The Maroon and White continued their high tempo of play responding to Buckell’s equally intense efforts. At 10:46, slightly more that 2 minutes later, India Ralph with an assist from Katie Gibb planted a rocket behind the Bucknell keeper during a corner. It was at that point the Lafayette defense rose to the occasion.
Lafayette goal keeper, Raffi Fragomeni had her best game of the year, turning away over 80 percent of the shots delivered by the Bisons. Lafayette had 7 shots to Bucknell’s 6 during the half. Leopard defenders were kept busy, especially defending Bucknell’s six corners.
Both teams came out determined in the second half and for a time it looked like Bucknell was getting the better of time in the Lafayette side of the field. The third quarter saw Bucknell get a 2-0 advantage in corners. It was then that the Leopard’s defense and bench dug deep. Counter attacks by Josephine van Wyk, defense by Makenzie Switzer, Stella Malinowski, Katie Gibb, and Lena Thedrian kept Bucknell at Bay only to yield to a corner shot by Bucknell’s Kira Leclerq on a corner at 38:44. It was an excellent high flick, top shelf.
But this night was to be for the Leopards and their fans, as we were to see Lafayette out shoot Bucknell 5-1 in fourth quarter. To no small advantage the home team also out cornered the visitors 6-1. With four minutes left on the clock the Bucknell Bison decided to pull their goalkeeper but still couldn’t manage to tie up the game.
The tension did not subside until the last several clicks of the clock leading the Leopards to a 2-1 win and 1-0 in League play. Remarkably, the crowd was reinforced by students who cheered in a continuous roar for 60 minutes. Noticed was at least 4 former players who made the trip…Sam DiMaio, Alex Talkow, Felicitas Hannes, and Lisa van der Geest.
My only regret was there was not enough space or time to recognize all individual team members. This was a total team win !
The Leopards will move on to another home game with Fairfield on Sunday. Meanwhile I will try to decompress!!!
The Leopards have played 5 games against a challenging group of non-conference foes, and begin their conference games at 0-0 against the Bisons at 7:30 on Friday. Although only 6 games, the outcome of those games determines entry into the Patriot League Tournament where play between 4 qualifying teams will decide who will represent the Patriot League in the NCAA tournament.
Lafayette has an overwhelming lead in the record between the teams, but in the last ten years these two teams have become close rivals. Last year, a one goal win by Bucknell was sprinkled with controversial calls including a disputed goal ( without video review). This year the Bison will arrive with a record of 3-3 while the Leopards are 1-4 with 2 games decided by one goal. Bucknell and Lafayette have one common opponent Ohio State. Lafayette lost 1-4 and Bucknell played them tough losing 1-2.
Both teams have their offensive stars. Josephine van Wiyk leads the Leopards with 6 goals and a shot on goal percentage of 65 %, She is followed by the ubiquitous Lineke Spaans with 2 goals and 6 assists. Her shots on goal is 56 %. The Leopards are young and are growing together as a team. Katie Gibb is the recent Rookie of the Week. Stella Malinowski is in the mix with one goal on 11 shots while co-captain India Ralph has 3 assists during the current campaign.
The Bison are not without their stars, not the least of which is number 12 Lily Neilson the pre season offensive player of the year. She has responded with 4 goals in the 6 game stretch so far. But she has been supported by three players with 2 goals each number 15 Isabella Pavlides, number 5 Zoe Carlos- Pietrazek and number 22 Hannah Guarente. Pavliders has added 4 assists to her resume.
Each team’s defense will be trying to keep the other our of the circle. The Bison average 6.5 corners per game while the Leopards average 5.4 corners. Opponent corners are 6 for Bucknell and 4.4 for Lafayette. Average goals for Bucknell are 2.17 for ad 2.33 against. Lafayette averages are 2.00 for 2.20 against.
The weather is cooperating, expecting to be cool and clear for the game. Perfect Leopard weather!!!
Columbia played a game 24 hours previously, and had only three substitutions. Lafayette had 21 shots to Columbia’s 9, 11 on goal to 7 for the home team , 8 corners to 3 for the eventual winners. Columbia drew first blood with a goal at 20:15 which stood up for the remainder of the first half.
On the back of 5 shots and 3 corners in the third period Columbia scored two more goals at 31:15 and 37:16. That was to be it for the Lions as the Leopard’s combination of Katie Gibb to Lineke Spanns to Josephine van Wijk got into gear and scored 2 goals within six minutes of each other, making it a one goal game at the end of the third quarter.
With Spanns and van Wijk getting into it in the fourth quarter, the Leopards were to get off 9 shots and 4 corners to Columbia’s 1 shot and 0 corners. Instead, the Columbia GK managed 7 saves during the 4th.
Given the threatening weather we decided not to make the trek to New York, but watched in on ESPN plus.
The season begins a new phase with the first game of the Patriot League season this Friday night against Bucknell. Bucknell beat Kent State today scoring 2 goals with 4 minutes left in the game to win 2-1. So forget the last several games and start a brand new season on Friday!!!!
We all know its early to be judging relative strength, and how do you compare Lehigh’s 3-1 record to Lafayette’s 1-3 record or American 2-2 record. Strength of schedule is certainly a factor in those type of observations. Lafayette and American have certainly chosen the harder path. Using the NFHCA rankings those two teams have played more top 20 teams than any other PL Team. In fact, by Sunday Lafayette will have played 3 top teams with the addition of Syracuse. more than any other PL team to date. This week Syracuse is ranked 7th in the Coaches poll, and will be the highest ranking team played by PL members based on current rankings.
Colgate, Holy Cross and BU are the three PL teams who have not played a top 20 team to date. BU will be playing Boston College this week end. Lehigh and Bucknell have played OSU. Lehigh lost 5-2 and Bucknell played them tough in 1-2 loss in Columbus Ohio.
Lafayette’s game with UMASS, according to reports and the stats, looked to be very close. Can Lafayette pull the upset against Syracuse? Syracuse will play Cornell tonight.
The all important PL games will start next week as the Leopards will meet Bucknell on a night game at Rappolt Field. In the meantime the Leopards will play Columbia on Sunday and it should be an indication if this young team has come together. Bucknell this week will tangle with Towson 3-1 and Kent State 1-3. Kent State has had the harder schedule and will be playing Penn State before they meet the Bison.
First, a very large thumbs down to the University of Massachusetts for not having either video or live stats during the Lafayette game. Perhaps they spent all their money on giving out Dunkin Donut coupons or were just lazy. In any case, as a division one school you would think they would have one or both options available. It was “bush” in any case.
The game itself at least according the published statistics was close. Lafayette had seven shots to UMASS 8. Shots on goal were 4 to 3 in the Leopards favor and penalty corners were 5-3 in Lafayette’s favor. In shots taken, Stella Malinowski took three with one on goal, Spaans had one on goal, van Wijk had 2 with one on goal and Lena Thedrian had one on goal. Given the time breakdown it looks like the Lafayette GK was pulled with 3 minutes to go, but I wouldn’t know since real time info was not there from the hosts!!
If we were to believe the post game stats our subs entered the game but did not have any time on field!! UGGH
We were not able to make the trip not wanting to buck Labor Day traffic on I 95!!!
Thumbs UP
Since I was unable to view the Lafayette game in person or online I surfed around to several other games played on Sunday and was treated to some amazing action, especially from GK in losing efforts,
First, both Patriot League teams, American and Holy Cross lost in the overtime, but not without some outstanding goal keeping to get them there. American played Liberty, and lost in a shoot out, but not without the heroics of Bryn Underwood who did everything but stand on her head to keep American in the game. She had 5 saves on 5 shots on goal in the regular time and overtime competition, including a stop on a stroke. At one point it looked like Liberty had won in the second overtime, but Bryn called for a review and it was discovered on the reverse chip shot the Liberty player had used her back stick. ( remember my article before the season where I noted Sean Rappaport,the person in charge of officials, mentioned that there may be a large amount of back sticks on reverse chip shots).
Holy Cross lost 2-1 in overtime after Brooke Ross proved to be a virtual wall against Brown’s 20 shots on goal. Brooke saved 18 during her afternoon. Brown had 37 shots and Holy Cross ultimately succumbed on a penalty stroke.
In a contest of two top ten teams, Princeton and North Carolina, Princeton was kept in it through the efforts of senior Robyn Thompson who had 10 saves against 12 shots on goal including a stop on a penalty stroke. It was a heroic effort against a very skilled and fast UNC team that kept the pressure on the Princeton offense denying them circle penetration for much of the game.
Thumbs Down
It was an extremely hot afternoon which resulted in one Princeton player who appeared in distress on the sideline. According to the announcer there was not an EMT present. Yes, the University hospital is spitting distance from the field but if true it deserves a thumbs down.
Secondly, a definite thumbs down to the Ivy League who will not let there teams begin practice the same time as other Division One teams. Since, starting preseason with classes not having begun, I see harm to the student athletes of a shortened preseason. To my mind, this is not to the benefit of their health and safety. The Ivy League does march to its own drummer not to the welfare of their student athletes in this case..
Finally
The Leopards will meet a very good Syracuse team friday night. ( There will be TV and live stats). They bring with them Charlotte de Vries, the fifth year senior who in my opinion might be the best player in country. No doubt she will be on the USA Team when she finishes her collegiate career.
Congratulations to the three Lafayette Canadians who will represent their country at the Junior World Cup in November. Stella Malinowski, Laine Delmotte, and Kate Kibb. Well done!!!
With seconds left on the clock, Josephine van ‘Wijk scored the tying goal to send the game to overtime with assists from India Ralph and Leneke Spaans. Spanns had two assists and 3 shots during the game. Van Wijk was busy all game long getting 2 goals on 4 shots, three of which were on goal. Lafayette had 11 shots to Vermont’s 13 shots. Corners were 7-8 Vermont’s favor.
Looking from a fan’s perspective, both teams looked like they were waiting for the other team to make an error, which led to a lot of play horizontally rather than vertically. Both teams scored in the first period, with Vermont scoring early.
Vermont came out more aggressively in the third quarter and were rewarded with the lead for all but the last 30 seconds of the game. Their press was to earn them the ball for most of the half. Lafayette pulled their goal keeper with 3 minutes to go and van Wijk and Spaans put the aggressive move to good use to score.
The Catamounts put to rest any theory that a slow overtime was planned. They went right to goal and scored ending the match at 3-2.
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,
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.
Lafayette College Field Hockey 