Category: Uncategorized

Leopards To Play Four Big Ten Schools In Challenging Fall Schedule

Alix Talkow blocks pass against American

The fall schedule was posted on twitter but with a couple of changes needed. It was incorrectly reported that Lafayette will play 20 games. ( The article incorrectly reported the first two scrimmages with Delaware and Albany as official games). However here are schools and dates for games as reported.

The two scrimmages are Aug 19 and 22. Delaware will be away at 1pm and Albany at home reportedly at 2 pm. The first official game will be home August 27th with Hofstra @ 4pm,  followed by an August home contest with Villanova on the 29th@ 3pm. Then, the following weekend will be the first two games away with Big Ten opponents, Ohio State on September 3rd @. 4pm and Indiana on September 5th @11 am.  The Leopards will return home on September 10th to host Yale in a game under the lights @7 pm. They will then hop to a bus to travel to Quinipiac on Sept 12th for a 1 pm game.

The first Patriot League game will be with the likely Patriot League favorite American University in DC on September 18th @12 pm. The Leopards went to overtime in both games with American this past spring including a controversial call in the second game which led to a game winning stroke. The Patriot League schedule continues the following weekend at home against Holy Cross on September 25 @noon. Lafayette will stay at home for the next two games on October 2 and 3rd against Colgate @ 11 am and Fairfield @2pm respectively. 

DSC_8162
Eva Kaplan sends a pass downfield

The next week the Leopards will again hit the road against Boston University on Oct 9th@ 12 pm and Brown Oct 10th @ 1 pm. The following friday, Oct 15th @7 pm will see the Nittany Lions of Penn State at Rappolt field, followed by Drexel on Sunday October 17 @ 1pm. The Patriot League schedule resumes with a game against arch rival Lehigh on Friday October 22nd in a game under the lights. @ 7pm. Temple will host the Leopards on Sunday Oct 24th @1 pm.

The Patriot League final regular season game will be marked by a visit by the spring league champion Bucknell on Oct 30th @12 pm quickly followed by a visit to Piscataway for a game with the fourth Big Ten rival Rutgers @2 pm.

This is an ambitious schedule which if successfully navigated could certainly lead to at least a top 20 ranking. A Patriot League championship by winning the Patriot League tournament would amount to an automatic slot in the NCAA national tournament.

DSC_8174
Audrey Sawers will be back to challenge Patriot League foes

One half of the Leopards had an intense spring game experience, the other half which includes a very talented freshman class will have not played a single division one game. The early games will be good experience and preparation for the latter part of the season. Audrey Sawers will be returning for her covid season bonus and should be a key leader on a team that saw each game played this spring to one goal margins as well as a number of overtime games.

American will return two for their bonus season and Lehigh will return two as well. Grace Angelella will be playing for Temple, a late season game as she will studying for a masters degree at the Philadelphia school. In addition, Teressa Delahanty a Lafayette  graduate from several year ago will be a volunteer coach at Drexel.

NIL Starts To Kick In

Lehigh University softball player Carley Barjaktarovich has signed an endorsement deal with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the minor league team. The July 22 theme night will feature a paid appearance at the Iron Pigs game. Last Monday the Iron Pigs announced that she has signed an endorsement deal. The Iron Pigs say it is the first professional sport deal since the NCAA decision to allow college athletes to accept endorsements for the use of their name, image and likeness while still competing for their school. Terms were not disclosed. Under Pennsylvania law, schools and leagues cannot sanction college athletes for deals like this.

1317184560.0

Meanwhile Erin Matson who plays for UNC has reported that she has signed a deal with Longstreath and other equipment companies for an undisclosed amount of money.

PS. I have just learned the game with Indiana will be at Ohio State in Columbus!!

Managing Change

The March To A “Normal” Season

_big_a16LC_M8352
Audrey Sawers moves upfield

It’s only six weeks away, as coaches are preparing for a “normal” fall, where they will be returning to seasons dealing with restructuring, and building their teams for a run at championships. Players, fans, and parents are trying to adjust fall schedules to be in attendance, to watch any number of sports.   Student athletes will eventually be back to live classrooms and hopefully leaving the words like “zoom” behind them. In one and one half months bags will be packed and delivered to new dorm rooms. and college athletes will step on the field with their teammates. As the time approaches, all should all be increasing their off season training. Coach Stone believes in a fit squad, and quite logically the task of molding a squad that plays better as group than as individuals, can’t begin with a team more concerned about their next breath than their next pass, shot or defensive assignment.

_big_Team41121_02
Emma Garvey and Mary Gould of Lafayette stop Bison attack at the goal

The past year has brought new changes as well. Lafayette will have a new president who will no doubt have her own idea about structure. By all accounts she and her spouse are committed fans of college athletics, given their experiences at Notre Dame, Virginia and UNC. In the world of NCAA athletics, it’s interesting how change that was unneeded or unwise has force schools and institutions back to the middle. Many schools, who had tried to drop sports, have now reversed their decisions. William and Mary not only reversed their decision to drop sports, but fired their AD and hired new talent. Stanford, who only 9 months ago decided to drop field hockey altogether will welcome Roz Ellis as their new coach. The Ivy League lost the chance to retain seniors who were deprived of their final  season.  They will see their graduates play somewhere else. Juliana Tornetta having graduated from Princeton, as an all american and now a member of the US Team, will play at Maryland this year! The Patriot League is preparing to deal with NIL and perhaps they have finally given up their aspiration to be “Ivy Light.”  The Ivy League certainly did not demonstrate any superiority of management last year. .

IMG_0608
Leopards get ready in Maroon Club weight training center!!

The NCAA is managing itself to irrelevance, as they seem stuck to managing minutia, as opposed to dealing with real problems. Their efforts seemed limited to changing small elements of the language in their regulations than addressing real problems.

Hopefully, Lafayette will emerge stronger, chastened by over zealous administration of rules, but keeping what is good. I expect athletics will emerge stronger as  Intercollegiate Athletics gets new attention, starting with a change in the reporting structure. All indications seem to be moving in that direction.

safe_image-10.php
A traffic jam in front of the Lafayette goal

I am ready to get down to the nitty gritty of fall competition. Lafayette will soon have on campus one of their most talented classes ever. Certainly it can be said individually, they can be as competitive with any team in the league. The question is repeated here, How will they mold together as a team?.

With many teams returning players for additional seasons, it will be challenging. Audrey Sawers the Lafayette captain, will be returning for her senior plus season and will be a threat to Patriot League foes. But Lehigh will return Lenke Havas and Drew Pecora, and American will return Noor Coenen and Gaby De Kock.

The League will be improved, and perhaps a better performance in out of conference games will get the League a better seed in the NCAA tournament. Bucknell’s performance in the national tournament certainly helped. Schedule’s are being finalized and Colgate already has reported a schedule that includes Albany in August. a late game with Syracuse. and two games with Cornell. Lafayette will host Colgate on Oct 2 at Rappolt Field. By my count, having reported only 15 games Colgate will have room for more games. There are reports that Lafayette will be playing  Yale on Sept 10 also at Rappolt.

DSC_7478

I will be interested in those early games and scrimmages, as experience must be gained. There will be 10 players for Lafayette who have never played in a Division one game. All manner of challenges, as the season approaches and certainly fodder for us fans!!

Name, Image, And Likeness (NIL)…The Patriot League Gets Ready

What is NIL And What It Means To The Student Athlete

safe_image-13.php_

NIL, ( the student athlete’s rights to their name, image and likeness) is working it’s way through the courts as colleges, the NCAA, and conferences are beginning to get a handle on its implications. Until this point colleges, but not student athletes could profit from selling the rights to NIL to third party vendors like gaming companies. However, the athletes themselves have been prevented through archaic rules promulgated by the NCAA from benefiting from the licensing of their NIL.

Athletes in particular are not permitted to benefit in anyway from outside sources. It could be as insignificant as a four dollar picture frame to thousands of dollars in endorsements. These rules were particularly discriminatory to the student athlete. Was Yo Yo Ma the famous cello player required to forgo compensation while attending Harvard, or even been required to be regulated by the administration at Harvard on his musical gigs?!

The NFL and MLB Players Associations receive approximately 120 million dollars from licensing deals from video game publishers. This equates to about $48000 dollars per player each year. Last year Electronic Arts agreed to pay 40 million dollars to more than 29,000 current and former collegiate student athletes for the rights to use their name or likeness. There is also revenue potential in apparel deals.

_big_a6LAF_4352

By one estimate the UCLA women’s gymnastic team alone could be worth as much as $1,250,000 annually in endorsement revenue, Many current Gen Z high school athletes are bringing along a following in social media. even before they arrive on campus. I have personally seen, in the sport of Field Hockey, that USA field hockey as part of their “grow the game strategy,” has looked at early experiments in video gaming.

To meet this challenge the Patriot League in a pioneering move have entered into an innovating partnership with INFLCR to “empower conference-member student athletes to share content  and manage student-athlete NIL activities.”  The Patriot League is the first NCAA Division One conference to provide league wide support for its members. The league officials stated,” By providing each Patriot League institution with a department-wide INFLCR solution, the conference is leading from the front and empowering all Patriot League student-athletes to grow their brands and educate themselves on the new opportunities that are coming soon from NIL.”

DSC_7808
Lafayette fans feeling it !!!

By sharing photos, videos, and graphics produced by member institutions, delivered by INFLCR software enables each student athlete the opportunity to share their story and grow their brand. INFCR software will provide transaction monitoring for student athlete’s  commercial activity, that happens through INFLCR vetted companies. In addition, student athletes will have access to educational video resources, which will provide ongoing NIL and brand strategy content from a variety of athletes and industry experts, according to League officials.

Kudos to the League and its respective members to be ready for this development!!!

Two Lafayette Players And Asst Coach Heading To USA Field Hockey National Championships

_big_a1LAF_6038
Molly McAndrew chases down VCU opponent

Veteran Lafayette teammates , senior Molly McAndrew, and junior Sydney Woolston will travel with asst Coach Jenny Rizzo to Virginia Beach on June 15-20 to play in the USA Field Hockey National Championships. The 10 team tournament is a selection opportunity for the U 21-22 US team, and the US Development team. The 10 teams will be sprinkled with current US team members, increasing the competitive talent for each team. Lafayette alumnus and captain of the US Team Amanda Magadan will be playing on Team Spirit, coached by US teammate Melisa Gonzalez.

2019_PAG_Women_Bronze_USA_Chile2918

Molly McAndrew was assigned to Team Unity coached by Iain Byers head coach at Longwood University, Sydney Woolston will be with Team Brave coached by Ohio State asst coach Kate Lipton, and Jenny Rizzo will be with Team Courage coached by Roz Ellis, University of Iowa asst coach. They will be playing an international format with crossover games at the end to determine a champion.

DSC_7435
Sydney Woolston is part of the stout Leopard defense!!

Aside from the current US Team members, the teams are populated by the best collegiate and post collegiate players in country, competing for a coveted spot on one of the US teams. Because of Covid, the tourney was not played last year.

McAndrew was rookie of the year her freshman year, and subsequently been an all league selection. The respect she gets is demonstrated by her being double and triple teamed on most every occasion. Woolston showed her talent from her initial season at Lafayette on defense, by having defensive saves and is a key member of a very solid defense at Lafayette. Jenny Rizzo played for Penn State and also played professionally in Europe.

Rizzo_PSU_2-1
Jenny Rizzo was star goalie at Penn State

Phil Edwards who is USA Field Hockey’s manager of Coaching and Performance congratulated all the participants on being selected to play in this prestigious tournament.

Lafayette To Return Two All Americans This Fall

Emma Garvey and Mary Gould of Lafayette stop Bison attack at the goal

The Lafayette Field Hockey Team has barely finished their spring/fall season and thoughts have changed to a preseason that is less than 60 days away. Covid is still leaving its mark on NCAA sports as the NCAA ruled that all NCAA athletes who were on the roster in the 2020-21 academic year will receive an extra year of eligibility. That means that some seniors may be wearing new jerseys in the fall has they proceed to graduate school or they may be playing an extra season as a graduate student or adding a second major at their present school.

For Lafayette that means Audrey Sawers has elected to go for her fifth year. Audrey was the team’s MVP, first team all league and regional all American. Audrey was just getting into stride as the spring season progressed and in my opinion showed extra ordinary growth in confidence and strength. Sawers played on the under 21 Canadian national team last summer and was clearly a leader at her center mid position.

In addition, Simone Hefting ’23 also a regional all American returns for her Junior year. Her clear athletic ability and big hit will be a huge asset in the backfield which has traditional been a key position for the Leopards over the years.

There are a number of good players who got lots of playing time in a schedule that may have been the toughest in the League. They played American twice, Lehigh, Boston, Bucknell, and Holy Cross.

Coach Stone and the team will still have challenges to meet. On the first day of practice she will have 10 players who have not played one second of division one field hockey. Four are last. years freshman who were unable to play because of Covid rules and the entering class ( two from the Netherlands, one from Canada, one from New Zealand and California and Connecticut. Meshing that all together with the returning players, who played a tough spring schedule will be the task of a very talented coaching staff. Outside of Bucknell, Lafayette was the only league team to complete their assigned schedule.

Meanwhile, the other league teams will keep several seniors for their extra year. American’s Noor Coenan, and Gabby DeKock will be back to challenge league opponents. Lenke Havas returns to Lehigh to raise their hopes as they become more formidable with each season. Of course Bucknell, this year’s champion and winner of one game in the NCAA’s will return a seasoned group of players with confidence.

To me it looks like a great fall for fans!!

Season Ends With A Spectacular Championship Game….Now What??

The North Carolina v Michigan game was worthy of the championship imprimatur. It was a game that not only was played with skill but with heart. Michigan, who beat Bucknell 2-0 and Louisville to get there, showed they were ready. It was a game that demonstrated two different  regional styles of play. On the Michigan Big Ten side, it was physical intense play, but on the UNC side there was more finesse, behind the best player in the country, Erin Matson. It was Matson in the end, who performed on an overtime penalty corner….no fake…no dodge, just sheer power past a very fine Michigan goalie. However, it was still a gutsy performance by Michigan, ultimately hampered by several cards which limited their offensive chances. Great Field Hockey for us fans!!

Meanwhile the Patriot League Makes a Statement

_big_Stefanowicz_MK41121

Congratulations to Bucknell, who put away a game and undefeated Virginia Tech team, on the way to playing the number 2 team in the nation. For the life of me I can not off the top of my head name a dominant star on the Bison team ( like I can name Erin Matson on UNC team). They played a steady, disciplined game, stressing a team approach. In the end Michigan was just too good.  But Bucknell represented the Patriot League well, and as their season progressed, they just got better and better in the end winning six straight!!.

DSC_8149
Sophie Carr sprints to get in position

What will the Patriot League look like next year? The League will be better as teams have already revealed that many senior stars will return for a fifth season. American will return Gaby de Kock and Noor Coenen, and Lehigh will return Lenke Havas. I would be pleased if Lafayette could return one senior who really was a dominant player  on the team…we will see!

In the meantime the Leopards have recruited one of the best classes ever. They dipped into the foreign player pool to pick up two players from the Netherlands, one from Canada and one from New Zealand. In addition, they have added a player from California and one from Connecticut. There are four good players who didn’t see action this spring due to Covid regulatory issues and will battle for playing time.

Coach Stone in her http://www.goleopards.com interview stressed how hard her team of coaches worked in building this class. The skill will be there, but the team and the coaching staff will have to work hard, molding this eclectic group into a  team this summer. Lafayette played every game to a one goal margin and just one other win would have put them into the PL tournament with a team that played Lafayette into overtime.

Lastly, I have urged the League and Lafayette to install video review. There DOESN’T seem to be a monetary reason to delay this any longer. Stay tuned!!

How Did The Various D1 Conferences Perform With Covid

First, the worst performance goes to the Ivy League who played no sports. Not only did they screw their students and athletes,  but ruled they could play a fifth year IF THEY APPLIED FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL AT THE SAME SCHOOL!. Only the ruling came after applications closed for Ivy grad schools. It was reported that many IVY baseball players went to Florida and formed their own league while attending school virtually. There are some graduating seniors who will play at other schools this fall. Grade for a miserable performance is F minus.

The ACC had a fall season and a spring, It was controlled and fair. Grade A

The Patriot League did not have a fall season but managed to put together a spring season with abbreviated schedules. The Field Hockey schedules for this 7 team league was undecipherable with Lafayette not meeting Colgate and playing American twice. Boston University was to play Colgate and Holy Cross twice (they failed to play the second game with Colgate) and did not meet American all season. Boston gets a huge question mark by forcing players to play with masks ( dutifully done by placing them on their chin). There were no cases of “chin” Covid all season!!!Bucknell was the only team in the Patriot League playoffs that played a complete schedule!  Lafayette, on the other hand was the first league member to allow spectators….well done!!  Overall grade for the League… a solid C.

Other leagues allowed out of conference games in almost all cases, so C plus to a solid B for the rest!!

Bucknell Travels To Penn State To Meet VCU In NCAA Tournament

_big_Team41121_02
Emma Garvey and Mary Gould of Lafayette stop Bison attack at the goal

Strangely, the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, in part, will be played at the home of the Nittany Lions, but the Penn State field hockey team will not be playing. They neither won the Big Ten title or received an at large bid following the end of the season conference tournaments. Instead, it will be the nearby Bison of Bucknell who will take the short bus trip to meet VCU, who also won their conference title for the first time by beating St Joseph’s 2-0 in the championship game.

Bucknell’s season was one of recovery, after losing 3 games in row and facing virtual elimination, came back to beat American in overtime and finishing their 3 game sweep with a 3-2 victory over Lafayette. They had to wait a week and a half to play their next game, which turned out to be second seed American. The first seed, Boston was to play 4 seed Holy Cross. Boston got in after not playing a full slate of opponents and had perhaps the weakest schedule in the Patriot League.

In both Patriot League tournament games, Bucknell was to play a patient defensive games using virtually their entire bench. They used 10 bench players in the double overtime win/shootout game with American, aided by 8 saves by Clara McCormick who I believe is the best GK in league at the moment. In addition they earned 12 penalty corners.

In the championship game with Boston they used nine subs, compared two for Boston, and got 15 shots compared to 6 for Boston. In addition, Boston had their two GK’s sidelined and were forced to use a little experienced M/D, who never played in the goal before. They lost several players due to covid protocols as well, and realized only minutes before the game that they were to have no experienced goal keepers. Jeremy Cook correctly surmised, this would be a game of attrition, which was executed perfectly by his team to get the overtime victory at 7:29 into the period.

The VCU game is interesting for its parallels. Its the first time both team have won their conferences. Ironically, VCU only used two subs in it’s 2-0 victory over St Joe’s. In the meantime, their GK, Sasha Elliot had a good outing with 5 saves. VCU’s best win was a win early against ODU, only getting five shots to ODU’s eighteen.

I kind of like Bucknell in this game, but I have no common opponents to judge them by. Clara McCormick is the real deal, and Bucknell earns corners aplenty. The game is at noon Friday and the winner gets to play Michigan on Sunday.

Northwestern, Iowa and Louisville got the at large bids leaving a lot of very good teams watching on their computers!! Crazy year!!

Deja Vu All Over Again

DSC_8195

The Lafayette Field Hockey Team played a magnificent game, but for the second time this season lost in double overtime. If they had won they would have claimed the last slot in the PL championships with 8 points. Holy Cross will get the coveted fourth seed with 7 points.

Jennifer Stone had the team well prepared and they played their hearts out. She had only two field substitutes ( mainly due to aLafayette ill advised covid rule which led to four freshman not being able to play or even been in residence). Each player today stepped up, and had the Eagles stymied at the end of 4 quarters and 1 1/2 overtime. periods. This was a game that is a tribute to the players and Lafayette coaches both

But with minutes left during a corner by American, the umpire committed the unforgivable sin of making a call that may have sealed the Eagle win. I am going to say this so there is no mistake, there was no foul that demanded a stroke. In addition, I have not spoken with any coach or player and the opinion is truly my own and represents only my view as expressed in this independent blog.

Here is a second picture picture the moment the official calls for the stroke. Note, the goaltender is in position, there is another defender near her and if it was a shot the American attacker was at a poor angle . In addition, Audrey is not making an intentional move to foul, she is in a reasonable field hockey position to make a play.

DSC_8236

Coach Stone and the team deserved better today.

I  ran the video five times when I got home. The call was made on Sawers who came out to meet the offensive player during a corner, who was passing to someone on the end line. It  was NOT A SHOT!! The rule is that a stroke is called if the penalty was the result of stopping a sure goal. This call was not even that close or the foul was intentional inside the circle. The reason for a stroke would be an intentional foul inside the circle. Again clearly not occurring

I don’t know how the game would have ended, but to have an obvious offical’s error determine the outcome is wrong. Ironically, yesterday’s soccer game for the PL championship was influenced by a red card during championship, against the undefeated Leopards playing American. Deja Vu!!

I could rail against the officiating, but I don’t see much point, everyone agrees the officiating in field hockey needs improvement. However, I am going repeat my plea to the League, we need to have video replay. All the views I have shown would have been available for video replay. Every major conference has it, and all NCAA tournament games are played with it!!  Patriot League football has it….Patriot League basketball has it…it’s time. The costs are minor and I will make the calls and raise the money myself if necessary. It is my belief with video review eventually the officiating  will get better as well!!

And now the rest of the story

It was obvious from the get go that this was to be an intense game. American was playing for the home field, Lafayette was playing to get into the tournament. But 5:10 into the game the ever dangerous Noor Coenen found the back of the cage off a rebound of a blocked shot. However, with less than 20 seconds left in the opening quarter Lafayette senior Grace Angelella evened it up assisted by Lafayette’s Audrey Sawers. It only took 3:42 into the second quarter for American, and Aidan Rossman to again deliver off a rebound putting American ahead.

With American ahead 2-1 Coach Stone and her assistants had the team ready to respond when Audrey Sawers, who was all over the field making play after play got an assist from Sophie Carr and Anna Steps during a corner delivering the ball to back of the cage evening the score up.

Each team had several chances at the win before play ended in regulation time. The Leopards were possessed during the two overtimes, coming close several times to finishing. Lafayette had 15 shots to American’s 16. Lafayette had 9 on goal to American’s 7. Lafayette had 4 saves to American’s 7, as junior Haile Abbott went all the way. Lafayette had 5 penalty corner’s to American’s 9.

It’s been a bizarre spring as the number one seed was scheduled to play the 4 seed twice and Colgate who came in tied for last ( fifth) twice. BU was NOT scheduled to play American even once. Lafayette had to play American twice and did not play Colgate, but did play Holy Cross and beat them. Lehigh was to play American twice and had the game cancelled. Truly, truly bizarre.

Next year may see several “seniors” return for a rubber last season. American it appears will return two including Noor Coenen. Lenke Haavas from Lehigh is rumored to return and there are several other teams contemplating returning stars to beef up their teams. It could be an exciting fall!!

It’s Simple…Win At American And Colgate And Lehigh Must Lose!

safe_image-13.php_

The message and blog is short this time. Lafayette must win to get 3 points (for a total of 8) and Lehigh and Colgate if they lose would have 6 each. Lafayette would be a 4 seed!! Go Pards!!

You Heard It Here First

The Ivy League has so screwed up the covid protocols with no spring season,

DSC_8149
Sophie Carr sprints to get in position

Ivy grads will use their extra year in another conference. The Ivy League are not the smartest people in the room!!

Lafayette Falls To Bucknell 3-2 In Crucial Game

_big_a16LC_M8352
Audrey Sawers moves upfield

With three seconds left in the game the Leopards had a penalty stroke opportunity to tie the game. A shot by Alex Talkow was blocked illegally by a Bucknell defender. and  the stroke was called. Audrey Sawers steped quickly to the line and shot to her left and was blocked by sophomore Goal Keeper Clara McCormack. McCormack had been named Goal Keeper of Week by the Patriot League twice this year, but that save may have been the biggest of this abbreviated season.

The game started with the Leopards looking like they were suffering from bus legs as they had traveled to Lewisburg that morning. The first quarter seemed to have the field tilted to favor the Bison. One wonders if the usual travel procedure would have helped. Boston had traveled and stayed overnight traveling to Easton, American did the same, and even the Leopards stayed overnight in Worcester. I am sure there is some “alumnus” that would have footed the bill!!

Anyway the Leopards were to take advantage of Bucknell errors to get a goal 6:27 into the game with a Tara Hamilton beauty after a scrum in front of the cage. However, the lead was to last a mere 4 minutes when Kaitlyn Long hit on a penalty corner tying it up.

DSC_8169

However, with less than 6 minutes left in the half Audrey Sawers took a penalty corner to score and put the Leopards up 2-1.

After the half, the Bison came out on fire with two goals, the first at 36:37 from Rachel Ana and one minute later to take the lead 3-2. The Leopards, for the remainder of the quarter and 5 minutes into the fourth held their defense back behind the 50. With 10 minutes left in the game they began to press and had good success and started to take control of the game. At 1:15 left in the game, Coach Stone pulled the goalie, which eventually led to a corner with 11 Leopards on the edge of the circle and Talkow’s shot. During that fourth quarter the Leopards had 6 shots to the Bison 3 and 3 penalty corners to none for Bucknell.

Emma Garvey and Mary Gould of Lafayette stop Bison attack at the goal

Outside of the 4 th quarter the total stats look familiar.  Shots were 10-10, saves were 6 for Lafayette to 7 for Bucknell, and penalty corners were 5-5. One statistic that stands out is Lafayette had two substitutions, Bucknell had eight.By my reckoning only two missing can be accounted for by injury, the rest seem to be not in residence.

It’s not over yet, with one game left in Washington, D.C against American. In any case, looking at next year there is a lot of work to be done in the preseason with perhaps as many as 10 roster places who will have not played in a single division one game!!