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It’s a bunch of firsts for Lafayette as they they make their first extended trip of the season to New England to meet two opponents not seen for at least 10 years, the University of Vermont and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Under 9th year coach Katie Pfeifer Vermont had two back to back winning seasons. Last year the Cattamounts went 13-5 and 5-3 in the American East Conference. They finished 4th in their conference. This year they were a preseason number 6 conference pick by SID’s and coaches.

Looking under the hood a little, Vermont returns two all rookie team selections, number 15 Sophie LaFranc from Munich , and number 22 Mora Fernandez de Olivera from Buenos Aries. If that isn’t enough, they also have all league selections number 28, 6 footer,Alina Gerke from Hamburg, and Sophie Drees number 23 from Bremen Germany. Vermont also could benefit from an interesting transfer from Division 2 Lotte Kanters. who led the the division in goals last year. She is from the Netherlands.

Both teams come into the match at 1-1, Vermont having beat Sacred Heart 6-2 and losing to number 8 ranked Syracuse 9-1. Against Sacred Heart the Catamounts scored 6 goals on 13 shots ( 10 on goal) to dominate the game. One goal was scored by LeFranc ( on 4 shots), 2 from Drees ( on 2 shots), 2 from Gerke on 2 shots, and one from Fernandez de Olivera on 2 shots. Vermont had 3 saves on 5 shots on goal and earned 5 corners.

Against Syracuse it was tough going losing 9-1. The single goal was from Lefranc on her only shot of the game. Total shots were 5. Reggie Hillary had 1 shot, Lefranc had 1, Drees had 2, and Haley Buffenbarger had the remaining one.

In the goal, Lauren Halenkamp faced 27 shots, 16 SOG and saving 5. Syracuse out cornered Vermont 11-5

Both teams hope to end Friday at 2-1 and although this is a non- conference game they hope to set the the tone for the season by bouncing back.

The game starts at 3 o’clock and will be live streamed,

GO PARDS

During the Revolutionary War the Men of the 2nd Co of the First Delaware Regiment under the command of Captain Jonathon Caldwell were mostly recruited in Kent County and took with them Blue game chickens. The chickens were known for their great fighting ability, and therefore the regiment became known as the Blue Hens. The University of Delaware adopted the name and in fact their agricultural school still houses and breeds Blue Hens.

There’s a lot to be learned from last year’s stats as the University of Delaware’s season became a drama in two parts. The entire season had a 10-12 record and in fact, the first 9 games left them with a 1-8 record. However, the second part of the season turned it around, as their conference record was 5-1, 3-0 at home and 2-1 away. They ended playing Lehigh in the NCAA tournament beating them 4-0 in North Carolina. In that first stretch they lost to Va., American, Monmouth, UCONN, Penn State, Princeton,Rutgers and St Joes. The best win during their winning streak was a 3-2 victory over William and Mary.

More interesting was their scoring pattern. They scored 54 goals but gave up 60 in the process. They have brought in a transfer from UNC, sophomore Kylie Walbert. In her freshman season at UNC the 5’11 goalkeeper played in virtually every game for 30 minutes each amassing a save percentage of .657 with a goal against average of 1.33.

Delaware is picked to win the CAA and three players were circled as preseason all conference, Julia Duffuiss (nbr 12), Beber Bakerman (nbr 7), and as an Honorable Mention KiKi Oudshoorn (nbr 8). Julia Duffuiss is named preseason player of the year as a defender recognizing her 14 goal contribution. I suspect she is a key player in their offense corner set.

Delaware scores the most in the third quarter and gives up the most in the fourth quarter. They earned 125 corners and gave up 110. Lafayette conversely, earned 77 corners and gave up 106.

Lafayette’s record is 11-19-2 with the Blue Hens. The last win was a 4-2 win on Oct 15, 2003. The last game was a loss in 2017, although there have been exhibition games since. The first game was on Nov. 10 1977.

This will be a good test in this last exhibition game before the regular season!!

The final score was 4-2 as Lafayette dominated the second half of play against Drexel, a team they lost to 1-2 during the regular season last fall. The Leopards demonstrated a diverse attack that may make scouting this team in the fall very difficult for opposing coaches.

Drexel drew first blood late in the second quarter to take the early lead. The first half was an even affair but to my eye Lafayette had the best of time of possession, but failed to find the back of the cage. In addition, Drexel was to earn several corners, threatening to score

During the third quarter Drexel was called for a penalty stroke, however, Lafayette failed to convert leaving the score 1-0 in Drexel’s favor. It wasn’t long until the Leopards found their stride with four different teammates finding the cage for four straight goals. Alex Darrah, Ellie Barton, Ariel Schumacher and Hannah Findlay lit up the scoreboard to the delight of their fans and parents. Assists were made by Lineke on the Schumacher goal, Catalina Robel’s hard shot with a diving effort to Alex Darrah and Hanna Findley to Barton.

It was a team effort as the defense began turning away Drexel attacks. India Ralph was directing the defense as the game wore on. The field was shifted from one side to the other and Leneke Spanns drew attention freeing up her teammates to attack the circle.

Laine Delmotte was back from Barbados after playing in the under 21 Pan Am games for Canada and fit right into play. The spring has turned into a valuable experience for all. There were some bumps and bruises along the way but I expect that will be all gone by August. Catalina Rubel was an active threat all afternoon. Carley Kreytak was in the face of Drexel attackers. Aimee Hoefnagel and Josephine van Wijk showed increasing skill and leadership. Alex Darrah will be a real force this fall and Mackenzie Hall showed her gritty determination all spring. Alex Conway showed growing maturity.

Our two goalies, Emma Garvey and Raffi Fragomeni are showing improvement and are playing like upper classmen.

The Leopards again, will be playing an interesting schedule in the fall which will include Big Ten and Acc teams along with its usual opponents in the Patriot League. Boston, American, and Lehigh will be on the road. ( Boston will have a new field). Bucknell, Holy Cross and Colgate will our guests at home.

There will also be the usual list of clinics and camps in the coming months and the coaches will be on the road scouting for talent for 2024 and beyond.

It’s been 28 years since Lehigh last won a Patriot League Championship in Field Hockey, but they finally are able to claim the title after a worthy effort. The semi-final and final games both went to overtime and the Mountain Hawks dug deep in both games to get the win.

In the semi- final game it went all the way to a 9 person shoot out before beating American. It should be noted that due to a confusion by the official Sara Bothius’s first shot was disallowed. Other teams in other years would have been down after that, but their resolve seemed to redouble. Goalkeeper Maddie Kahn played magnificently and turned away shot after shot until the Mountain Hawks connected for the win in the ninth round!!

They continued their determination in the championship game coming from behind to tie the score in the fourth quarter with a Maddie Kandra redirection from Sara Bothius. It was in overtime, that sophomore Netherlands native, Hogandoorn on a penalty corner received an assist from Sydney White for the win at 67:14.

Special mention should to go coach Caitlin Dallmeyer who culminated this 7 year quest for the trophy. She used recruited players from far and wide and set goals that eventually led to the title. They were emotionally ready to play when needed.

The stats were not necessarily in their favor today. Boston out shot Lehigh 22-16, shots on goal were 14 to 11, and corners were 8-12. Maddie Kahn heroically came forward with 13 saves. Lehigh did it when they needed to.

For next years opponents…will Kahn and Bothius return?? A little bird says yes!

Lafayette had beaten Boston 2-0 and lost to Lehigh 2-3 during the regular season. This is all the more evidence that the League has become much more competitive and balanced!!!