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Beware The Brown

Naomi has first goal of her career unassisted against Lehigh

While conducting some research for this article I decided to watch last week’s game between Lehigh and Monmouth. Having read the statistics for Lehigh I prematurely came to the wrong conclusion. This game was hard fought by Lehigh, and not decided until the final seconds. Lehigh led for a bit, but much like Lafayette’s game with Syracuse had a crucial penalty stroke swinging the momentum to Monmouth’s favor.

Lehigh did not have the stats in their favor. They had less shots, less APC’s, and less time with the ball, as they battled a more athletic opponent. They were in the game until the very end, having taken advantage of the opportunities they did have in the 4-5 loss.

Maddie Evans eludes a Monmouth defender
Olivia Krey stands up Monmouth player

Number 15, Kiki Mes, their captain, is the real deal as she was involved in every important play on the field. The Leopards must mark her well. I am reminded of a game several years ago at Lehigh that was decided in overtime, breaking a long losing streak against Lafayette. There again, it was the less athletic team winning, in a game that on paper should have gone the other way. But the game is played on turf not paper.

The statistical trail points in favor of the Maroon. Lehigh comes in with a 1-4 record having lost all of their last four games. Lafayette is 3-3 with a strength of schedule ( according to hockey corner) higher than the Mountain Hawks, Lafayette takes more shots and scores more goals, 13/69 vs 8/58. However, as can be seen, their shot percentage is higher. Lehigh has more penalty corners 19/18 and they have more penalty strokes taken…… 3 vs 1.

In the goal, the Leopards have an advantage, Kate Burgess has a .667 save percentage, while Raffi Fragomeni has a .77 save percentage. Opponents seem to score the most against Lehigh in the first and third and fourth quarters. For Lafayette the fourth quarter has seen the most goals scored against them. Both teams have their opponents get more penalty corners.

So this fan believes Lafayette, having the stronger schedule, and deeper bench can leave the turf with a W. Getting off a strong start and getting more corners would be helpful. The Leopard’s must mark Mes well. Lehigh has the more difficult task of covering multiple goal scorers and if the Leopards start getting APC’s early, it could be trouble for the Mountain Hawks. The Leopards having an early lead, and taking control by the fourth quarter is a path to victory!!

However, this a rivalry game, on opponents turf…not to be taken lightly!!

Leopards Beaten On First Period Goal By Temple 1-0

In a 60 minute defensive battle the Leopards came up short 1-0 in a game in Philadelphia. Lafayette’s stingy defense played well as Lena Thedrian returned to the lineup. This Leopard team is as good as any between the twenties, moving the ball with great speed and accuracy.

Lena back in the lineup

The Leopards had their chances outshooting the owls 7-6 but each shot missed the cage at times by inches! There was only one penalty corner in the whole game.. picked up by Temple. The only score of the game came with barely 2 minutes into the first quarter on a redirect.

Minus the one goal, this Leopard team was good enough to win and I am confident as the season progresses the key will be unlocked. In the meantime Syracuse looms on Sunday and then on Friday the opening league game with Lehigh will need the back of the Lehigh cage filled with Leopard shots.

I have been traveling for the US Field Hockey Foundation raising money for the 28 Olympics. Next Sunday when Penn State comes to Rappolt the Foundation will be sponsoring a clinic that will benefit that effort. Former Olympians will be in attendance to give young players tips and instruction starting at 8 am. Details can be found on instagram.

Leopards Coast In 6-0 Victory Against Longwood

Lauren Kurek fights for her goal in the first perio

Lafayette remains undefeated and unsecured upon this young season and the Leopards left Farmville, Va with a convincing 6-0 victory. The offense was active, having scored the 6 goals on 28 shots and an 8-4 advantage in penalty corners. The Leopards wasted little time getting their first score. Rosalie van Gool scored a mere 3 minutes into the game executing a penalty corner from the top of the circle with Stella Malinowski and Linda Nova providing the assist.

Eight and one half minutes later first year Laren Kurek took an assist from Malinowski and scored a gritty goal off of two deflected shots to put Lafayette up by two goals.

The second period was much the same story as the Leopards had a 9-0 advantage in shots and 2-0 advantage in penalty corners. The result was a goal from Maddie Evans assisted by Kurek.

Shots continued in the third quarter as a 6-0 advantage in shots translated into a nifty goal at 35:23 by Lea Good as she eliminated a defender in the circle and took a reverse stick shot to make it 4-0.

The coaching staff substituted liberally and the result was 2 additional goals in the fourth, At 46:01 Linda Nova stole the ball inside the circle and delivered a strike..5-0. Lea Good got her second goal of the afternoon off an assist by Josephine vanWijk. at 58:10.

All game long Lafayette demonstrated teamwork and speed especially considering the long bus ride to Virginia!! There were several players on the sideline nursing injuries from the previous week’s play. There is no reason to believe they will not return to action soon.

The Leopards will take a two hour ride to Williamsburg to meet William and Mary on Sunday. They have an 0-3 record having lost today to VCU. After that meeting Lafayette will encounter the meat of their schedule, with Temple, Syracuse and Penn State on the horizon. One should not forget our rivalry game with Lehigh on the 19th.

In Patriot League action BU dropped a heartbreaker to Vermont in overtime, Lehigh lost to Wagner 0-2, Holy Cross lost to Providence 1-2, and Bucknell beat St Francis 3-0. Colgate and American were not active today.

Leopards Handle The Stags For Opening Day Win

Raffi is a wall against Fairfield

Opening day is always a nervous affair. Both teams were champions of their respective conferences and picked to repeat. So aside from the normal incentive to add a “W” to the record, each team was sort of defending the honor of the Patriot League and the Northeast Conference respectively . Both were in the NCAA playoffs and lost to their opponent by one goal.

Lafayette’s DPC sprints to meet Fairfield

Lafayette countered everything Fairfield threw at them and some individual and team heroics resulted in a 2-0 early season win. Although outshot 16-10 and out cornered 8-2 the Leopards always came with a solution.

The opening goal happened at 9;07 into the game with Josephine van Wick teaming up with Linda Nova who delivered a deflection into the cage past the Fairfield goalie. The first quarter saw the Stags out shooting the Leopards 4-1 and it was up to Lafayette goaltender, Raffi Fragomeni to demonstrate why she was selected as preseason goalkeeper of the year. The second period, the Leopards turned it around by outshooting the Stags 3-7. and the Stags countered with more aggressive play however, resulting in a penalty stroke at 20:33 delivered by Captain Stella Malinowski. That made the score 2-0 which would hold until the end.

Stella Malinowski receives appreciation from her teammates

Lafayette could not coast for the rest of the game as Fairfield was to renew and refresh their efforts with a 7-1 margin in shots in the third quarter and a 4-0 stretch in penalty corners. It required defensive heroics, including a defensive save by Lena Thedrian to preserve the shutout at the end.

At 54:47 Fairfield pulled their goalkeeper, but Lafayette’s defense held strong, and was to prevail despite a yellow card on Lafayette’s van Wijk.

Lafayette unloads a shot

Lafayette’s depth was a factor using 20 players during the game while Fairfield only used 15. The crowd’s official count was 317 bolstered by the men’s lacrosse team.

There will be no rest for the weary as Drexel will come to town, the preseason favorite in the CAA.

An editorial Comment

Last night American beat up on William and Mary 10-0 and Syracuse rolled over Loch Haven 15-0. Although both teams seem to have been substituting liberally, I don’t think either outcome demonstrates any sportsmanship, or helps the game in general. ( American’s goalkeeper was in the whole 60 minutes) American will face Duke on Sunday and Syracuse will play Fairfield.

Stags Travel To Lafayette To Meet In Opener On Friday

First year coach Laura Gebhart will bring her roster of 25 to Rappolt Field to challenge the PL champion Leopards on Friday at 6 pm. Both teams qualified for the NCAA tournament last year by winning their respective conference tournaments. Both lost in the first round by one goal. Fairfield to Delaware 2-1 and Lafayette to national runner up St. Joseph 1-0.

The Stags will return a veteran squad with 6 newcomers, as far as I can tell. Payton Rahn, their starting GK with a .87 goals against average and 30 saves, returns as a graduate student fifth year. Lafayette GK Raffi Fragomeni had a .77 save percentage. Leading Fairfield scorer number 17, Konni Hofman also returns for her senior year, as will second ranked scorer 5′ 9″ Alice Pifferi from Newark, Delaware number 21. Their second ranked scorer, Rylee Laloup number 5, had 7 goals as did Hofman

Last year, the Stags had 48 goals on 278 shots for 2.29 goals per game average. Their opponents had 25 goals on 174 shots for a 1.19 goals against average. The Leopards had 42 goals on 292 shots while opponents had 23 goals on 173 shots. So on paper, it looks like a low scoring game with whomever brings their offensive production to be the eventual winner.

Lafayette had 137 penalty corners while Fairfield had 140 corners. Lafayette allowed 104 while Fairfield allowed 105. Expect aggressive Stag play as they suffered 25 cards during last season.

Lafayette probably had a higher RPI but Gebhart seems to have spiced up their OTC schedule by adding UCONN and several Ivy teams. Last year, they lost to Lehigh 0-2 and beat Holy Cross 5-0. Their away record was 3-6 and home record was 8-2 while they were 1-1 at neutral sites.

It’s an appropriate game, on a favorable venue for the Leopards for an opening season contest. I expect a good turnout for this Friday night , hoping for an early aggressive start by the Leopards.

Talent, Tempo, And Training

In a frenzied tempo the Leopards opened the last competition with a hint of what this team could be during the regular season. Ranked nationally by the NCAA, using last year’s RPI the number 22 Leopards pushed the 18th ranked Great Danes on their heals. They opened scoring and got out to an early lead. I’m not going into great detail but to these eyes this is a team that could go far.

The scary thing is they can get better. They are fast, skilled and show great determination. There. is new talent and old talent, and Coach Stone is putting together a team that could go far this year. Albany was no slouch this afternoon, and yes they rebounded and evened the score later on, but if our Maroon and White numbers on the field can sustain what I saw early on, the 22 ranking could turn into something amazing.

First up will be Fairfield on Friday. First games are always tough but this one comes with Fairfield’s new coach Laura Gebhart’s initial attempt to get her first win. Laura is the former Penn State star all American and. later on Associate Coach. I am sure Coach Stone will have our Leopards ready for the challenge.

The talent is there as Leopards have four preseason all league players and they are picked to win the League title. No doubt the early season will see the Leopards with a big target on their back which means they will need to show their talent using high tempo while relying on their training to see them through….I can’t wait for the opening whistle!

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Pards Roll In Second Exhibition Game

Flying Upfield

In the second game of the preseason Lafayette avenged a spring defeat by the Monmouth Hawks. On the backs of an already stout defense Lafayette came from behind with only 1 minute 49 seconds left on the clock. The Leopards had pulled their goal keeper with 4 minutes to go in the game and were able to take control with about 2 minutes left turning around a Monmouth attack. The Leopards managed to get to the attacking circle earning a penalty corner.

Rather than try to be fancy, the feed from Linda Nova. went directly to Lena Thedrian who delivered a rocket to the back of the net, the game ended after regulation time and they went to overtime. At about 4 minutes in to overtime Laila Pasic tipped in her second goal of the preseason sealing a victory.

Katie Gibb goes for the ball

Since this was practice game, play continued for the remainder of the 10 minute period. Both teams retired and began to set up for shoot out practice. Although it wasn’t as sharp as they would have liked they put in more goals than the Hawks.

Olivia Krey stands up Monmouth player

Lena Thedrian again had a very good game making multiple defensive saves while scoring the equalizer with less than two minutes left. Sophmore Laila Pasic continues to find the back of net in this preseason.

Lauren Kurek puts it into high gear

I don’t want to diminish the effort by the rest of the team as all games are a team effort and our Leopards continue to look deep and skilled. However, this is not the regular season yet and these game don’t count and the team is going to get better……and so are their opponents.

Next up is Albany on Sunday, another stern test for the Leopards!!

Leopards Begin Training To Defend Title

In a brisk, sharp, practice, under the August sun, the Lafayette Leopards are hard at work honing their skills, to make another run at a league title, and a place in the national tournament. To these eyes, the dedication and enthusiasm is there, and the coaching staff is making sure they will be ready.

The first test for this team who are showing extraordinary depth, will be at Penn State on Friday. It will be a strong baptism for this team that finished ranked in the top 20 in the nation last year!!! They will be playing the Nittany Lions a nationally ranked team in the tough Big Ten conference. They will be meeting the Lions during the regular season at Lafayette, and will be hosting an Olympic fundraising clinic after the game. It features clinic coaches who have had Olympic experience.

Leaders consult at end of practice

During practice, the team showed good speed, and given the early season, showed good decision making skills. It’ll be especially interesting for the new players, number 2 Addison Ford from Malvern, Pa,number 9 Lauren Kurek from Collegeville Pa, number 20 Katie Ambrose from Newark, Del, number 21 Feline Reusken from Voorsburg, Netherlands, number 25 Roselie van Gool from Saint-Michielegestel, Netherlands, number 27 Linda Nova from Prague, Czech Republic and number 98 Campbell Lemmink from Yorktown Va. Together with the other 20 team members, this team will be deep and talented.

Depth is an emerging strength

The team has benefited from the new construction adjacent to the field hockey field, housing the Lacrosse teams. There is a fully equipped strength facility which is being used. Improvements to the FH stadium area still await approval of plans by the township!! As the winningest team on campus, we all hope that we can move forward soon!!

Coach Stone, who is entering her 13th season at the helm, will be joined by last year’s assistants Jop Beuger in his 3rd season, and Meghan Reese in her second season.

Aside from winning the conference, the Leopards ( and their fans) would love to see the PL tournament at home. So winning each Patriot League game is important, and a key game with American is circled for Friday Oct 3rd in DC. Perennial power Syracuse and Penn State will strengthen an already strong schedule with Fairfield, Drexel, Longwood,William and Mary, Temple, Dartmouth, Quinnipiac, New Hampsire and Delaware providing non league challenges!!

Aside from the Penn State exhibition there will be games with Monmouth and Albany to prepare for the opening game with Fairfield on August 29th at 6pm at home. The game will be covered by ESPN streaming service.

Patriot League Champs Begin 2025 Campaign

As we all know the start of the season begins in the spring as the seniors get ready for graduation and our Juniors begin to fill roles vacated by their older teammates. Yes, it is a period of adjustment as new roles are defined. However, the Leopards are blessed with a plethora of returning players albeit some will find new places on the field.

Field Hockey is a game of finding space, especially space that leads to an open teammate and a path to the goal on the offensive side of the field. No surprise then Thursday’s first live inter collegiate contest of the spring saw both offensives struggle. The end of the match was nil-nil but it was an exercise for coaches to see what needs to be improved.

No doubt the fine defense from last year is virtually intact with key performers like Lena Thedrian and Raffi Fradomeni are back for an encore, but of interest to fans will be how Josephine van Wijk steps into a leadership role. Her skill and presence was noticed in the contest thursday which left no doubt, as the prep for the fall continues, she will be ready. In addition there will be experienced players like Carolina Rubel, Mackenzie Switzer, Stella Malinowski, and Katie Gibb who will be familiar to Lafayette opponents.

As the game progressed it was obvious that many were stillT finding their spot and their teammates spot on the field. They will be at Temple at 1 pm on Saturday. What will be fun is to see the progress the team as whole makes during this practice week.

GO PARDS!!

Lafayette Leopards Win Overtime Thriller in DC

Lafayette Soccer Makes The Trip to DC

It was an intense afternoon of hockey in which the umpires seemed to have difficulty keeping the play under control. In the end, the Leopard prevailed with a penultimate score in overtime by Lea Good assisted by Makenzie Switzer. The events leading up the win were every bit as dramatic.

From the get go it became obvious to the crowd of 623 that this would be a struggle of frantic defenses. Play was dominated by mid-field action with American at times trying to press, especially covering Lafayette’s co-captain and inspirational leader Leneke Spanns by triple teaming her all game long. One got the feeling it would be the success or failure of that effort which would lead to a championship for either team.

No one would have predicted the events of the fourth quarter. The 2nd and 3rd quarters would see the Leopards gathering six penalty strokes to the Eagle’s 2. With less than 10 minutes left in regulation time Eagle Agostina Ruffo was open and flicked a shot high into the goal scoring the first goal of the contest. Ruffo had scored two other game winning goals against the Leopards in the two previous games.

Anxiety reigned for the next 4 minutes until Leneke Spanns broke through her triple coverage and headed to the goal. As she penetrated the shooting circle a sloppy attempt at a tackle though Spann’s legs caused her tumble with a serious injury. Fans held their breath as she struggled to get up, eventually leaving the field only to briefly reenter the pitch with a courageous effort to return to the fray.

Intense moments ticked away as officials conferred only to eventually call a penalty stroke on the Eagles. Stella Malinoski stepped to the line and beat the Eagle GK Bryn Underwood on the lower left corner to tie the score with 5 1/2 minutes to go.

Those last five minutes played like the 55 minutes preceding, ending in a tie, and the teams now faced overtime. Executing a press would be more difficult with only six players on the field, but without Spanns’ presence on the field the Leopard’s faithful held their breath. As champions they would become, the Leopards gathered themselves together to await their opportunity. That came at 3:47 into the period during a corner. as Makenzie Switzer found Lea Good on the left side of the goal and would deliver the winning shot, a redirect, past Underwood for the win.

In the minutes that would follow I would reflect on the tempo and intensity of the last 64 minutes. The officials seemed to let the players play on through close action. The events leading to the stroke in retrospect seems to me to have been inevitable. The absence of video replay ( American is the only one of two teams in the PL who don’t have it) contributed to the close aggressive play that led to the game changing stroke.

Raffi Fragomeni had a career day in goal having 7 saves. Lena Thedrian was all over field playing what may have been a career day for her. All that is not to diminish this team effort.

It is time for the League to mandate video referral as the rest of the world has already done, never again should a championship game be without it. Do it NOW Patriot League.

The Leopards now await the outcome of the 10 pm Sunday announcement of their NCAA tournament pairing. Their RPI now puts them ranked 22nd nationally. NO matter what. these Champions can now hold that title forever. WELL DONE