Category: Sports

This week the Leopards will be taking on the Temple Owls on a Sunday afternoon out of conference matchup. What is certain, is that this game will not suffer the fate of being cancelled like the early September game Temple played to incompletion with Maine at Kent State. Temple was invited to a tournament at Kent State and they were to play Maine on Saturday morning. Unfortunately the game went to overtime and encroached on a noon time fireworks display to begin the football game. The field hockey game was shut down  by school officials at about 10:30 am. Overtime in field hockey is a possible 2 x 10 minute golden goal periods!!

Amazingly, after a SELF examination, Kent State  found no Title IX violation, or gender related bias, according to the recently appointed president Todd Diacon. Dr. Diacon replaced Beverly J. Warren on July 1.  The college in their self examination, which was done by the College’s own Office of Compliance, Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action  published a report Friday that stated, ” Poor management of schedule’s aside, the EOAA finds no eveidence of discrimination.” The university will not self impose any sanctions on its athletic department according to multiple news sources.

Both Maine and Temple accused Kent State of gender discrimination. Temple coach Susan Ciufo is quoted in the Washington Post, ” I know we are not a big-revenue sport, but to make young women feel what they did for 70 minutes doesn’t really matter, what are we telling  female athletes about what it means to be a an athlete?”

Kent State officials countered, when a similar scheduling conflict occurred in 2016, Kent State canceled the fireworks display to allow the field hockey game to continue. ” The current case involved new and different personnel.”  The athletic department and President Diacon said they will conduct a “climate study” of the athletic department.

The current investigation did not interview any student athletes from Maine or Temple. So we have a president that admitted that in a similar situation they did the right thing 3 years ago, and now did the wrong thing. At the very least, there seems to be poor management, which includes shutting down a scheduled Division one female sport in favor of a fireworks display scheduled seconds before a football game.

So what we have is poor training and lack of sensitivity, this year. What is needed is an honest look at what has changed in three years. I ask again, as I did one month ago where is the NCAA??? It states quite clearly in game manuals, that the game official is the only one that can stop game in progress.

How about Kent State self- fining itself 150,000 dollars to be split in thirds 50k to the Kent State field hockey program, 50k to the Temple program, and 50k to the Maine Field Hockey program. Maybe that will make whoever the next president and AD are  think a bit more clearly and manage more fairly.

 

Fresh off of a 3-2 overtime win against Boston University, Lafayette traveled about 60 miles to Providence, Rhode Island, and under a cloudy, chilly overcast launched a 6 goal onslaught against Bryant in the first half which was the difference in the game. The Leopards played 20 players for significant minutes, and many underclassmen got a chance to get on the turf for some valuable game time.

The first score came early in the first period as Ana Steps started off the scoring to highlight her continuation of excellent play from her midfield position. She was able to turn back Bryant as they crossed they midline and begin the attack for the Leopards. Lisa van der Geest got her fourth goal of the season at 13:51 to continue her scoring spree supplementing her excellent middle back play.

Things were to heat up for the Leopards in the second period, as Felcitas Hannes assisted by Jenn DeLongis and van der Geest at 16:41 for Felicitas’ fourth goal of the season.  Hannes followed that with a strike at 17:10 for her fifth goal of season assisted by the same Jenn Delongis and van der Geest. Molly McAndrews continued with her 6th of season, assisted by Eva Kaplan who put in valuable  minutes. Molly delivered for the sixth and final goal at 24:22 assisted by freshman Sydney Woolston.

The second half saw Lafayette substitute liberally, producing 5 more shots but not quite finding an opening at the cage.

For the entire game Lafayette had 25 shots ( 15 on goal). against 6 for Bryant all in the second half. Lafayette earned 12 penalty corners to one for Bryant. With seconds left in the game, after what looked like a spectacular save by Sydney Woolston, the Leopards were called for a penalty stroke. Sara Park stepped up and preserved the shut out, to end the game.

Lafayette is now 7-5 and does not have a game until next Sunday against Temple. After that, it will be the much anticipated contest with Lehigh at 7 pm on Friday at Lehigh. A win would lock up a PL tournament spot and keep the Leopards alive to host. The short hiatus gives the Leopards a chance to lick their wounds, heal where needed, and get ready for mid term exams,

Lafayette has scored 32 goals in 12 games on 176 shots. Opponents have been held to 125 shots and 21 goals. Sara Park continues her 71 percent save percentage and looks stronger every game. McAndrews leads in goal scoring with 7, followed by Hannes with 5, DeMaio with 5 and van der Geest with 4. The Leopards have 4 shutouts so far this season. The Leopards have earned 79 corners to their opponent’s 51.

Goals per game are 2.67 against 1.75 for opponents.

If that wasn’t enough, home attendance has averaged 346 per game.

 

In what could only be described as a total team effort, Lafayette stymied the Terriers of Boston University 3-2. Scoring came from Molly McAndrew, Sam DiMaio, and Lisa van der Geest who delivered the winner at 73:29 during the second overtime period. It was a game that was played mainly between the 25’s and had several dramatic moments.

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The Leopards also won the battle of stats. They had 14 shots to BU’s 9. Shots on goal were 8 for Lafayette and 6 for Boston. Sarah Park made 4 saves to BU’s 5. Incredibly, each team had only 1 corner apiece. Two of Sarah Parks saves came with only seconds left in the game as the Terriers put on a furious effort to win the game.

The Leopards had to come back after Boston scored first at 19:44, but Lafayette was to answer 4 minutes later with the fifth goal of the season from Molly McAndrews. Sam DiMaio put the Leopards ahead for the half at 27:06 with an assist by McAndrews. At 40:16 Ailissa Conolly launch her sixth goal of the season to match the Leopards. For the remainder of the period play went back and forth.

The first overtime period was a back and forth affair with no resolution. It was a pass from Caroline Turnbull that found Van der Geest on the right side of the cage. Lisa accurately found the back of the cage to finish and end the game with a 3-2 win.

It’s hard to praise everyone who was responsible for the win. Ana Steps may have had the best game of her career powering past red uniformed opponents. Cam Costello was a force on the field. Sydney Woolston showed skill beyond her freshman moniker. Jenn DeLongis was a steady influence on the field. Grace Angelella was all over the field. Tara Hamilton hewas a fierce open field player. Sophie Carr showed her strength when needed. Audrey Sawers showed her versatility. Caroline Turnbull was NOT going to be denied today. Felicitas Hannes showed her stick skills. Eva Kaplan was to have key replacement minutes.  And lastly, Sara Park was to come up with two key saves with seconds left on the clock to get Lafayette into the overtime.

This leaves Lafayette at 3-0 in the league and in the hunt for home field hosting for the PL tournament. However, there is Lehigh, Bucknell and American who are still the obstacle for ” home for the playoffs”.

Next up is a game with Bryant on Sunday at 12 o’clock. They now take a winning record to Providence. Next week it’ll be a game with Temple before meeting Lehigh for their next PL game.

For those players who wondered what their parents do to celebrate a FH victory here is the evidence! Boston provided the ambiance!!! Party time!!

 

The Lafayette Field Hockey team will soon board a bus to travel to “bean town” to meet the preseason League favorite Boston University. Their last trip to Boston was during the Patriot League tournament last year, when the Leopards battled the Terriers to a 2-1 loss with a second period winning goal  made in the waning minutes of regulation.

The historical record shows that Boston has a 6-1 edge in play against Lafayette. The last  Lafayette win came three years ago at Lafayette in a shootout. With the exception of the 2017 and 2018 regular season losses, the games have been close, decided by two goals or less.

This meeting promises to be intense. Lafayette arrives with a 5-5 record with a strength of schedule of 20 out of 78. Boston has a strength of schedule of 36 and 3-5 record. They are 2-1 at home with the one loss coming from Bucknell several weeks ago. Lafayette has yet to win on the road acquiring all 5 of their wins in the friendly confines of Rappolt Field. A win by Lafayette would give them 3 wins in the Patriot League needing only one more League win to lock up a place in the playoffs. However, a win would also put them in contention to host the championship. For Boston a loss would hand them 2 league losses giving them a small chance to host.

Lafayette has an RPI of 28 while BU is at 41. In addition, the Leopards, even given the fact they have played 2 more games than BU, have scored 2.30 goals per game vs 1.8 per game by opponents. Boston has score 2.11 goals per game but given up 2.48 goals per game. Lafayette averages 13.7 shots per game while Boston has 12.88 shots per game. The save percentage is .688 for Boston while .719 for Lafayette.

The most interesting statistic concerns penalty corners. Lafayette averages 6.6 per game and gets .7 goals per game on corners. Boston averages 5.62 corners per game and gets .38 goals per game via corners.

Boston’s top scorer is junior number 11 Allisa Conolly with 5 goals in 8 games. The Leopards must be cognizant of her presence. However, scoring is spread around 8 players in an offense that over the years has worked off the counter attack.

All the Terriers are still a well coached, and dangerous team, especially at home. Add together, their one loss to Bucknell in the League and they are sure to arrive at New Balance field with a chip on their shoulder. Boston, this year has gotten off to a quick start in games this year scoring 6 of their 17 goals in the first period. However, their opponents scored 7 goals each in the second and third period in the 20 goals scored against them.

Weather so far looks good and the PLN will be on scene for the televised record!!

Lafayette played their 10th game on Sunday and they are more than half way through the regular season. I thought I would revisit the pre-season SID and Coaches picks, and compare them to my initial impressions.

Right now the Patriot League standings are Lafayette first at 2-0 and 5-5 overall, American is 1-0 and 5-4 overall, Bucknell is 1-1 and 5-4 overall, Boston is 1-1 and 3-5 overall, Lehigh is 1-1 and 5-4 overall, Holy Cross is 1-1 and 4-4 overall while Colgate is 0-2 and 2-8 overall.

The Lafayette defense is in fine form as we all have seen, but the offense is starting to catch fire with 2.3 goals per game average against a 1.9 gpg average after 10 games. Impressive!!! In addition it is being done with arguably the League’s highest strength of schedule.

As predicted, I believe and continue to believe that Lafayette is strong enough be at or near the top of standings at the end of the regular season. Boston has hit a rough patch which make this weekend’s home game with Lafayette important to both. Like Boston, American has probably performed worse than expected in the out of conference games, but last Sunday’s  win against Bucknell proves as far as the Patriot League is concerned they are ready to compete.

Looking at the ratings American enjoys an RPI of 28, Lafayette a 29, Boston is at 41, Bucknell at 48, Lehigh at 56, Holy Cross 60 and Colgate at 69. One of the interesting numbers, is Lafayette’s strength of schedule which stands at a league high of 20. When I first took a look at the schedule, it looked like an average schedule if you used last year’s RPI. As it turned out, the out of conference schedule proved to be a challenging one. Also our two scrimmages with Albany and Fairfield turned out to be against two current top 25 teams.

My one surprise was Colgate, who had a lot of returning veterans, but at the moment are having a tough season. Lehigh is still dangerous, especially for Lafayette, when the two meet on a Friday night in a renewal of the intense rivalry.  However, a win this Saturday for the Leopards, against Boston would be a big step toward post season opportunities. More about that tomorrow. Lehigh hosting American has obvious interest. Colgate will make the trip to Holy Cross in an attempt to stay in the hunt for a post season berth. A loss could be devastating to their chances.

McAndrews Scores The Winning Goal In Overtime

In probably the most exciting game of the season to date, the Leopards stood tall, and in a combination of a good game plan by Coach Stone and her staff, great execution by the players on the team, and some outstanding individual effort the Leopards overcame fatigue, and an worthy opponent to win 2-1.

The winning goal from Molly McAndrews, last year’s rookie of the year, finished a bruising and hot afternoon of field hockey in the second overtime, as each team looked for an advantage in the 7 v 7 format. The winning goal came from a feed from team captain Lisa van der Geest. ” I saw Molly open in front of the cage and I could see she wanted the ball. I was able to get it to her on a one timer and she finished.”  Van der Geest, who last year received all-American honors , switched to center mid, after conferring with head coach Stone several minutes before, and it was that change that was to put the Leopards on track for the win.

Cameron Costello Gets The Tying Goal

It was Costello’s first goal of the season that put the Leopards in position to get into overtime. Monmouth had scored 13:04 into the game and the tie stood up through the first half. However, four and half minutes into the second half Cam found the ball during a scrum and got the unassisted goal tying the game. The tie was to remain  for the  rest of regulation time, setting up the overtime.

Park Makes Multiple Strong Saves

Park had 3 saves during the contest, but more to the point, they were crucial if not spectacular, coming out from the cage and cutting off potential attackers before they could get off a shot. In addition, Audrey Sawers playing defense had a defensive save as well!!!

The defense was evident as they were to turn away Monmouth again and again, as they tried to mount an attack.The Leopards had 16 shots to Monmouth’s 10 shots. They had 7 shots to Monmouth’s 2 in overtime alone. Lafayette had 10 corners to Monmouth’s 3, including a 3-0 edge in corners during the overtime.

This was the first win over a ranked opponent since 2016 according to goleopards. The Leopards will now move on to Boston to play league pre-season favorite Boston University in Boston on Saturday. The Terriers lost to UConn today 4-0. On Sunday, the Leopards will have another back to back weekend playing another game with Bryant, at Brown in Rhode Island. No doubt the team will have  put this weekend’s triumphs behind them as they prepare for this important league game.

 

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Lafayette wasted little time lighting up the scoreboard on the southwest corner of the field with a strike by Molly McAndrews assisted by Anna Steps 2:45 into the game. The goal was preceded by strong play, and control of the tempo against the Colgate Raiders. Whenever Colgate seemed to take control of the ball, the Leopards were there, with  tackles, and subsequent power, to drive the ball past the 25  into the circle. In  fact, the Leopards scored three more times during the half. The second goal occurred at 14:57, as Lisa van der Geest scored her first goal of the season off a corner assisted by Simone Hefting, and Anna Steps.  It was a typical Van der Geest rocket  set up by her countryman and stopper Simone Hefting.

The Leopards would have to wait for the second quarter, when at 18:34  Caroline Turnbull delivered for her team. Van der Geest was in on the goal, as she assisted Turnbull for her 3rd goal of the season.  Van der Geest found the back of the cage later in the half with her second goal of the game and year,  assisted again by Hefting and Steps.

The stats for the half tell the whole story.  The Leopards had 9 shots in the half to 0 shots for Colgate. In addition, the “Pards” had nine penalty corners to Colgate’s one. In fact Colgate was to generate only 2 shots the whole game and Sara Park didn’t have to make a save all game.

The 4 goal first half was enough to get the win, and Colgate was able to slow the scoring with renewed aggressiveness, and one on one play. In many cases the Leopards were so anxious to continue their domination in the game, they often were ahead of passes and rushed their offense sets. However, they did get an additional 6 shots in the second half and 3 more penalty corners.

The defense had a good day turning Colgate away, and the first half transition game was awesome. Give Colgate credit, they never gave up, but the Lafayette defense was to stymie them for 60 minutes. Early on, they tried to press but Lafayette was to break that up, which led to scoring opportunities and circle penetration. Going to a zone defense did slow the Leopards a bit, but they adjusted, but  couldn’t find the shots to find the back of the cage during the second half. The Colgate goalie was forced to make 7 saves.

 

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I was delighted for Lisa van der Geest get her first goals of the season after several close chances earlier in this year. However, this was a team effort as 18 of the 24 players make it on to the turf.

In other Patriot League action, American beat Bucknell 3-1, and Holy Cross held off Lehigh  4-2. This leaves Lafayette on top of the League undefeated, followed by 1-0 American, 1-1 Bucknell, Lehigh, Boston and Holy Cross, and 0-2 Colgate.

The Leopards will face their 3rd top 25 team in Monmouth tomorrow at home at 2 pm. They also had two other pre-season games with top 25 credentials.

It’ll be homecoming at Lafayette this week end and what better time to have a Patriot League matchup at home. Last year, Raiders made a spirited and motivated effort against the Leopards as they jumped off to a 2-0 lead. The final winning goal was not delivered by Lafayette until the fourth quarter which ended in a 5-4 win for Lafayette. This game is just as important this year for both teams. It falls into to the category of a must win game.

The Raiders are 2-6 and Lafayette is 3-5 but the internals are more revealing. The most revealing are the respective RPI’s and SOS’s.  Lafayette’s RPI is 31 and Strength of Schedule is 14 out of 78 teams. Conversely Colgate has an RPI of 68 out 78 and a SOS of 64.

 

Lafayette played their last game at Cornell on Monday and Colgate had their last game on  Sunday with Syracuse…both were losses. More importantly Colgate lost to PL rival Lehigh 2-1 and Lafayette beat Holy Cross on 8-0 last Saturday.  I am not arguing to forget the current records, but these PL games have an added importance in that it can provide a second chance for a championship!! In terms of specifics, Colgate has scored 14 goals 6 of which were scored by 3 each from Taylor Cassmass and Nichole Salamone. Lafayette has scored 17 goals 4 from Sam DiMaio and 3 from Felicitas Hannes. Save percentage for Colgate is 67 percent and Lafayette is 70 percent.

Colgate is certainly under the gun, but a loss for Lafayette would be disappointing and have implications for chances to get into the playoffs. Colgate proved last year it can be competitive, but Lafayette should be well prepared, rested and motivated. However, Lafayette should not be overconfident…this is an important game. Disappointingly, it will not be televised. I hope we see a “sea” of Leopard fans in their seats!!!

Cornell had not played a game in eight days, and has yet to play a league game. The Leopards played their first league game on Saturday, and it looked like Cornell took full advantage of the prep time to take advantage of miscues by the visiting Leopards. Lafayette took the unusual Monday bus ride to Ithaca for the second time in as many years, but if they are to be successful they may have to play as many games in same number of days in the playoffs.

Despite the wind and rain Lafayette took 17 shots versus 5 for Cornell, had 6 corners vs 1 for Cornell, and had a.penalty stroke that was not successful. The score of course is the only stat that counts making those 4 goals on 5 shots all the more interesting.

The game was played in the rain with about 50 fans on the stands. It was the smallest crowd of the year to watch a Leopard game, home or away. In any case, the Leopards left the field 3-5 while Cornell faces their first League game at 3-1.

The first quarter was to foretell the outcome of the game, as Cornell was to take advantage two errant passes to steal the ball and find an opening and score at 6:50 and 12:55 in that quarter. That 2-0 score was to remain at the half. After the halftime break, it looked like the Leopards were to mount a comeback when Sam DiMaio had a nice shot that scored the Leopard’s first goal two minutes into the 3rd quarter. That 2-1 score would remain for all of one minute when Cornell again would score making it 3-1.

With less than eight seconds left in the 3rd period Molly McAndrews was taken out by the GK and the GK was called for not going for the ball, and the Leopards were awarded a penalty stroke. Lisa Van der Geest attempted the shot, but was to be denied by the Cornell  GK leaving the score 3-1.

Cornell was to finish the scoring 2 minutes into the 4th quarter. making it 4-1.

The Leopards will now begin preparation for their league game this Saturday against Colgate, in another must win game. That will be followed on Sunday with a game from the very accomplished Monmouth team at 2 pm. ( broadcast on LSN). The Colgate game will mark the 1/2 point in the regular season for the Leopards and will be homecoming for the College.