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Two seniors opened up the scoring  in the first half against Fairfield this afternoon and two freshmen finished the day in the second half to give the Leopards a decisive 4-0 win. This raises Lafayette to 3-1 on the year, It was their second shutout of the season. The afternoon was mild, as the Leopards stepped onto the Fairfield turf for the first time in 15 years. They made for  a memorable afternoon as senior Ellen Colbourne opened the scoring, using her blazing speed, running up the right side of the field, outdistancing her Fairfield defender. She found herself all alone just inside the circle and saw her chance, launching a shot to the goalie’s right side before the goal keeper realized the ball was coming her way. The 1-0 lead was established with only 7:04 having run off the clock. It wasn’t until 15 minutes had past, when freshman Anna Steps found senior Kaitlyn Ewing near the cage, and delivered a perfect pass allowing Ewing to deftly deflect it past the goalie for the 2-0 lead.

The field was a dry one compared the wet turf the Leopards were used to. In addition, in  the first half, the East West lay out of the Fairfield turf had the east goalie looking into the sun. The Fairfield goalie in the first period, was on the east side was and gave the Leopard offense a slight advantage nullifying the the dry turf surface..

In the second half, the positions were reversed, but the sun was no hindrance, as Grace Angelella found an opening during a scrum in front of the cage and lifted the ball over the goal keepers stick, sending the Leopards to a dominating 3-0 lead. With less than 5 minutes to go in the game, the Stags were trying to clear the ball out of the circle and Sophie Carr, using her speed and athletic ability, jumped and blocked the ball, delivering a goal to the surprised Fairfield goal keeper.

The Leopards led in shots 13-8, while goal keeper Sara Park made 4 saves, including a spectacular save coming out of the cage cutting off the attackers shot and progress. There were few corners with Fairfield getting 4 and Lafayette 3. The Leopards, especially early,   seemed to have difficulty with the bouncy turf on the corners.

Obviously pleased with the offensive output, Coach Stone was especially thrilled with her defense which held the Stags at bay all afternoon and started  many counter attacks. It was a fine afternoon of hockey as all parts were in sync.

The Leopards will have a day of rest before taking on the Drexel Dragon’s at home on sunday, scheduled to be live streamed at 1 o’clock as they begin a three game home stand!!

Liza Welch closes in

Rosie Shanks stepsup

The Dukes of JMU went to 4-0 and dropped Lafayette to 2-1 using their speed and up tempo game to stymie the Leopards for at least the first half. But the experience will be applied to future opponents of Lafayette. There was a lot that you could glean from this loss and I believe profoundly this team will be better as a result.

The first thing I came away with is that sophomore Sara Park is becoming a big time goal keeper for the Leopards. She handled 10 of the 12 shots that came her way, keeping her save percentage at 86.4 percent. The first period saw her turn away shot after shot until JMU’s Miranda Rigg found an opening with about a minute left in the first half breaking a 0-0 tie.

Lillis clears the ball after a corner

Cam Costello looks for space up field with Ana Steps ready

The Leopards had not seen this tempo in a game in their previous two, but as the second period started they began to compete. Yes, total shots were 8-26 in JMU’s favor for the whole game, but in the second half it was 8-10. The Leopards actually out cornered JMU 4-3….4-2 in the second half. The second JMU goal came with 9;30 left  but the Leopards never quit and that included their coach Jen Stone. With 3:30 left on the clock head coach Stone pulled her goalie and inserted Cody Hunsicker as the kick back. We were all hoping for one of Rosie Shank’s miracle finishes. She came close but could not connect in the end.

The Leopard offense came alive, getting two corners and challenging right to the end,  finally pushing the ball consistently into the attacking third. Yes, it was a loss, but I truly believe this is a good team about to  take the next step to very good team.

Cody Hunsicker had another fine outing and is a force on defense. It’s been only the third game but Ana Steps, Grace Angelella, and especially Audrey Sawers with her reach, strength and speed are making themselves a force inside the 25.  Junior Liza Welch had some good play during the game at the forward position also. Freshman Sophie Carr is playing the forward position like she’s played it all her career. Senior Meg Lillis was strong on defense as well.

Take these facts into consideration. The Leopard offense held JMU to the least amount of goals all season. JMU is averaging 23 shots per game, not much different from this game’s totals. Personally, I can’t wait for the next game at Fairfield and my guess is the Leopards will lick their wounds and get back to work to be better than ever.

Go Pards!!

Appalachian State put on gritty hard fought contest, but in the end it was key goals by Caroline Turnbull at 9:41 in the first half and the insurance goal by Cody Hunsicker in the 18 the minute of the second half that preserved the win for the Leopards. In addition, the Leopards showed a stout defense that  State found hard to  penetrate. Goalie Sarah Park was excellent in goal turning back 7 of 8 shots. For the season, Park has a 90 percent save percentage.

It was in the second half that Lafayette was most dominant. Lafayette had 13 shots to App. State’s 4, and out cornered them 9-2.  For the whole game Lafayette held a 20-14 shot advantage, and 10-8 in shots on goal, while also out cornering them`10-6. Lafayette’s Ellen Colbourne led the Leopards with 8 shots including one which hit the post.

Turnbull’s score came on a first period corner on a rebound in front of the goal. Hunsicker’s second period goal came on a perfectly executed Colbourne to Costello to Hunsicker play, ending with the rocket we are now  accustomed to see off her stick. In addition she played a very strong game on defense. She has now scored 2 goals in as many games, tied with teammate Rosie Shanks who made several key plays reversing and stopping the opponents counter attack.

It would be hard to single anyone else out, but as we witnessed against Hofstra, this was a team effort. Van der Geest was solid, Ana Steps was able to earn several corners, and Audrey Sawer made several key plays.

At the end of the game with less than 1 minute to play Lafayette was to get a green card leaving them one short on the field. Appalachian State was to simultaneously  pull their goalie in the hopes of getting a tying score, but the Leopard defense was to hold fast to end the game and preserve the win as Ellen Coulbourne controlled the ball as the buzzer sounded..

The game was played during a steady drizzle with 60 degree temperatures to enhance the fall like environment. It was hard to believe that Appalachian State lost a game to Georgetown 8-0,  as they showed themselves to be a much tougher opponent than that game would indicate. That game was played on field turf at Georgetown which may explain the anomaly. On Friday night they lost to JMU 4-0 having played them to a 0-0 tie for much of  the  first half.

The Leopards have little time to relax as they will play JMU at 2 0’clock tomorrow.

First Up Is Appalachian State Who Is 1-1

Appalachian State split their opening weekend in contrary fashion . Their first game and win came in Philadelphia with LaSalle. The stats were contrary indicators to the outcome. It was a 3-1 win where App State was outshot 9-13, and out cornered 3-10. But they found the back of the net when in counted and ended with the only statistic that mattered, 3-1 ahead on goals.

Sophomore Ali Williams scored 2  goals in the win taking 5 shots in the process. She is the hitter on corners, so I expect she is their most dangerous player. The Maryland native (number 14) can be expected to be their go to player.

That is borne out in the game with Georgetown, in which the Hoya dominated the scoreboard 8-0 over the visitors from Boone, NC.  Williams had no shots in a game that Appalachian State won the statistical battle, with 15 shots to 12 and 6-4 in penalty corners. Number 15 Taylor Cimblist a senior midfielder took 5 shots in the afternoon.

Second year coach Meaghan Dawson is no stranger to Lafayette, as she was an assistant at Bucknell before landing the Head Coach assignment at State. The game will be played on Saturday at 2 o’clock, and the weather prediction is for light rain for the first hour. The game is being played at JMU. App State will meet JMU on Friday afternoon.

Sunday Is JMU At 2 pm

James Madison is 2-0 as of this writing (August 30), having beaten Old Dominion in a shootout on their turf. Old Dominion got out to an early lead 2-0 in the first half and looked like they were about to coast to a win, but the JMU experience ( returned 9 of 11 starters) showed as they demonstrated a scrappy determination, tying the score in the second half, on two goals by Ashley Gippe. The first corner of the night did not occur until the second half as JMU tried a little deception by sending the ball  out to the hitter at the edge of the circle and passed it to side and back to the inserter. They were to try once more with a similar play, and finally tried  a direct hit on their third corner of the game.

Miranda Rigg (number 6) is their playmaker taking 9 shots on the evening, trying to add to her 2 goal performance against Liberty over the weekend. It was an offensive display all night, as ODU took 22 shots to JMU’s 23. There were only 7 penalty corners all game, all occurring in the second half of play. ODU had 4 and JMU had 3.   Rigg was all over the field and the former ice hockey player was clearly a big part of the JMU offense. She can shoot from any position on the field and as an inserter on corners is dangerous when they return the ball her. Defender Lisa Lejeune (number 22), was a force on defense.

One interesting turn of events was Head Coach Christy Morgan’s use of three goalkeepers. She started with the senior (number 29) Sara Kraeutler, switched to sophomore Kyler Zampiello for the second half and overtime, and most remarkably used freshman Caitlin Nelson (number 28) for the shootout.

JMU has now played two nationally ranked teams successfully. Lafayette lost to JMU last year 3-1 at Rappolt Field and looks to avenge last year’s game. Weather is predicted to be warmer (78 F). by game time at 2 pm Sunday.

Senior Rosie Shanks opened the scoring for 2017 with a touch off of a long pass from outside the scoring circle from Ellen Colbourne with 32:23 having been expended off the clock in the first half. This is the fourth year in a row that Shanks has scored in the opening weekend and the second time she found the back of the cage twice. Cody Hunsicker made the score 2-0 in the second half with a rocket off a corner with only 6:47 ticking off of the clock as her shot zipped past the Hofstra goalie. She was assisted by Ellen Colbourne who was her usual ubiquitous self, making her presence felt the entire game. Shanks finished her two goal night assisted by Lisa van der Geest in a scrum to the right of the cage with the coup de grace delivered deftly by Shanks into the far left corner.

Van der Geest was all over the field showing her leadership from the backfield and was a standout individually on defense often beginning play and defending against the Hofstra attack.

Possession was the hallmark of the evening as the Leopards collected 10 shots to 3 for the Hofstra Pride. It included 4 corners versus 2 for the visitors according to the scorekeeper. Meanwhile the Lafayette the goal keeper, Sarah Park got her shutout in her first start and minutes of her career. She stepped up for 2 saves in the effort.

The enthusiastic opening game crowd of 250, supplemented by a strong contingent from the Leopards Football team, was treated to a game that demonstrated the Leopards stick skills, as they dominated time in the offensive side of the field. Lafayette’s depth was evident as Coach Stone used her bench liberally. Stone was impressed with her team’s performance especially from those who have been asked to play new positions this year.

Freshman Grace Angelella took the first shot of the season early in the initial period, and was found around the goal all night. Midfield work by Theresa Delahanty and Kristen Taylor was exciting to watch. Ellen Colbourne’s speed was always a factor that warranted attention from Hofstra’s defense.

It seemed as though 80 percent of the time Lafayette was threatening and Hofstra was forced on their heels. It is Lafayette’s 8th win of the series and a rebound from last year’s 4-1 loss at the Pride’s home field.

Highlights of the goals can be seen on http://www.goleopards.com. The game was scheduled to be live streamed but a technical glitch prevented its broadcast despite extensive testing yesterday.

Leopards next travel to Harrisonburg, Va. for two games. The first will be on Saturday with Appalachian State, and second on Sunday with number 19 ranked JMU.

Lafayette will meet Hofstra at Rappolt Field on Friday at 7 pm as both teams face off for their first game of the season. The two teams met for the eleventh time last year in Hempstead resulting in a 4-1 win for the Pride. It was a game of momentum as Lafayette got out to an early 1-0 lead off a Magadan goal with less than 6 minutes ticked off the clock. But The Pride was to tie the score with minutes left in the first half deadlocking the game at 1-1.

While both teams came out strongly in the second half, it was Hofstra that was to take advantage and scored 3 goals, the last coming with less than 4 minutes remaining. Lafayette was on the short end of shots 10-18, making 8 saves vs 6. Hofstra also had more penalty corners leading 8-2 in that category getting five in the second period alone. They finished the year 9-10 overall and 1-5 in league play. That was last year.

Meg Lillis moves the ball upfield against Penn

Kristen Taylor chases down a Temple midfielder

Carolyn Turnbull lines up a shot late in game

This year they are a bit of a mystery. They return 12 players from last year but only 3 of those were starters last year. They will be led by graduate student Marloes Schavemaker ( a preseason all CAA selectee), senior goal keeper Carys Swan ( who was the back up keeper last year played in eight games with a 4 goal per game average and a 63.6 save percentage), and junior forward Madison Sauve who was the Pride’s leading scorer last year with five goals and five assists in nineteen starts.

Hofstra will start the season with one preseason game under their belt which I have not been able to find anything about. The rest of the team is a mystery, fielding 13 freshmen ( two of whom are red shirted from last year).

This could be a high scoring affair but one never knows. Possession will be the key to the game, as well as circle penetrations and corners, giving rise to scoring opportunities. The Leopard defense is experienced and strong which may give Lafayette a slight nod, but first games are hard to predict and this one seems, given uncertainties, especially difficult to handicap.

Both teams will have new goalies in the cage, with Pride co-captain Swan in that key role, having at least some time in the cage over the last several years. Hofstra is picked sixth  in the seven team CAA this year, but that is anybody’s guess given the new roster, and playing in a league with the National Champion (Delaware) on the league schedule. ( Lafayette also plays Delaware in October and plays JMU who is picked second in the CAA in the fourth game of the season).

If we knew the outcomes ahead of time, there would be no reason to play the game, as the saying goes. As a first game, this could be anyone’s game to win. Who will be more ready?!!

I understand the game will be live streamed on goleopards.com at 7pm EDT.