Findlay Scores Game Winner And Fragomeni Is 100% In Goal To Give Leopards 1-0 Win

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First year players Hannah Findlay and Raffi Fragomeni combined to put a “W” in the record book against the University of New Hampshire. But this was a team effort, as the Leopards put up 16 shots, 13 of which were on goal, while New Hampshire could only manage 9 shots, 4 of which were on goal. All 4 shots were turned away by Fragomeni in her best outing of year! Penalty corners told much of the same story with the Leopards having an edge 8 to 6.

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The first period was basically a stalemate with each team spending time inside each other’s shooting circle, getting off 4 shots each. It was the second period that the Leopards got into gear outshooting New Hampshire in the second and third period by putting up 12 shots. It was in the second period when Findlay found the back of the cage 19:08 into the game! Molly McAndrew and Tara Hamilton got the assists as McAndrew used a tip to give the ball to Findlay and she reversed sticked it past the opposing goalkeeper.

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Leneke Spanns and Josephine van Wijk dash towards the goal

The Leopards kept the pressure on all game. McAndrew had 5 shots all on goal, Lineke Spanns had opponents chasing her while she got of 4 shots, 3 on goal. Sidney Woolston got in on the effort with one shot at goal. Catalina Robel had a nice game getting 2 shot as well. Findlay had one shot making it count for the game winner!

Standing on the sidelines I could hear the team talking and helping to defend the very quick and skilled New Hampshire team. The emergence of depth by the Leopards will change how other teams defend Lafayette. They can no longer just mark one or two players, or high press because there are clearly threats all over the field.

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This cohesion could not come at a better time as the Leopards will continue their Patriot League schedule on Friday against the Bucknell Bison, who lost in a shootout against Providence today after a very solid win against Holy Cross. The Leopards will follow the Bucknell game with a game against Princeton on Sunday.

This will be an intensive week, as Bucknell will be a significant challenge with their new coach, and one Patriot win under their belt. Both teams will have there eye on the prize, which is the chance to play in the League tournament. Four wins will guarantee a slot, three wins maybe, only two wins will probably eliminate teams. The winner of the 4 team tournament will go to the NCAA national tournament.

A Letter To Our Field Hockey Team

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Dear Field Hockey Leopards,

Today, I saw real championship grit and determination from you! You were digging ever deeper on every possession, making tackles, basically thwarting the number 21 team in the nation! You held them scoreless for a half and didn’t bow your head after they scored but came back to tie it up. You weren’t intimidated by their 5 corners in the first period and made adjustments to hold them to only two in the second half.

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You came back to score in the third quarter, taking 6 shots in that quarter, more than they had. You were even in corners in that half as well. Yes, not only did you belong on the field with them but a rubber match with them may not end up the same.

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There are seven teams in your league and I believe you are capable of beating any or all of them. I believe in your character. I saw one of our captains playing through injuries, other players putting everything on the line and expending their last drop energy in the effort. I can’t believe this overtime game will change your mindset.

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You are MY team….and I am very proud!!! On to New Hampshire and reengaging the Patriot League with Bucknell on Friday night… and we will be there…..you can bet on it.

Lafayette Loses To Fairfield 1-2 And Will Look Forward To Patriot League Schedule

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The game was like several others this season, played between the 40’s. The Leopards struck first as the result of the penalty stroke by Felicitas Hannes. The action leading to a stroke was started by Lafayette’s energizer Leneke Spanns who sprinted down the left side of the field and then the center, sprinting past potential defenders. She spotted Mackensie Hall ahead of all of the Stags. Leneke delivered the ball to Hall, who made a bee line for the circle only to be stripped from behind by an opposing player.

Quite rightly, a stroke was called and Felcitas was called in to do her thing, ( she had also delivered on a penalty stroke in the Bryant game). The stroke was nailed, and the Leopards were off to a 1-0 lead. The Fairfield sideline, not happy with the call, also got a green card for their vociferousness.

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The lead was to last 5 minutes until Fairfield found the back of the net on a penalty corner with 90 seconds left in the first half. The Leopards were working off a green card, delivered to Lineke Spanns 30 seconds earlier. In addition, one of the Leopards left the cage early giving Stags a second shot with one less defender in the cage.

To make matters worse Josephine van Wijk recived a yellow with 13 seconds left in the half which carried into the second half. The winning goal was scored 4 minutes into the second half off a stolen pass. That was the last score of the game for either team!!

The Leopards will now leap into its “second” phase of the regular season with their Patriot League opponents. The four teams with the best record will go to the League tournament and the winner of the tournament goes to the NCAA national tournament. American University at Rappolt Field on Saturday is the first up. American is 3-3 with its loses from some quality opponents. The rest of the League is having a season much like Lafayette’s. ‘

Lafayette needs to find it’s offense to turn some of those one goal losses into wins and this could still be a successful campaign!!!! We shall see. Meanwhile I have to be impressed with Spanns who leaves it all on the field. She is an amazing competitor and athlete. Many of our young players are just starting to find out where they are on the pitch. Hannah Findley, Laine Delmotte, Ariel Schumacher, Makensie’s Hall and Switzer, Alex Conway and Catina Rubel will be heard from. Along with with the upperclass teammates a good season can still be had. Go Pards!!

Lafayette Thwarted By Quinnipiac 1-0

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Stats themselves don’t win games, it’s who scores the most goals at the end of 60 minutes. The Quinnipiac Bobcats won their third game of the series between the two schools by making a first period goal at 9:53 into the game count. The Leopards outshot the visitors 11-5. of which 6 were on goal to 2 for the Bobcats. Corners were almost even with The Bobcats edging the Leopards 7-6.

Lafayette had two corners at the end. The last one occurred with 17 seconds left. Lafayette went into it’s standard corner attack lineup but the Bobcat goalkeeper Cristina Torres was able to turn away the bouncing shot preserving the 1-0 win.

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Even broken down by halfs Quinnipiac seemed to have a disadvantage in the the first half, still being outshot by the Leopards 5-3 and being dominated in shots in the second half 6-2. Corners for the Leopards were 5-2 in their favor as well. The big difference was the 6 saves by the Bobcat freshman goalkeeper Cristina Torres.

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The first half goal was by Eva Velldhorst, who was featured all game long, collecting all 5 shots for the Bobcats. However, it seemed to me that the duel of the evening was between Stella Tegtmeier and Lineke Spanns who collect 3 shots on the evening leading the Leopards. Ariel Schumacher had 1 shot and Felecitas Hannes, Hannah Findley, and Catalina Rubel had 2 shots each.

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Tegtmeier seemed to mark Spanns closely one on one, matching her speed for the most part. The. battle seemed epic for most of the game.

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The Leopards will now move on to Fairfield who lost to Drexel tonight 3-1. The Stags are now 1-4 having also lost to Monmouth 1-3, Villanova 1-3, and Albany 1-2. Their only win came against Patriot League’s Holy Cross 1-0. Drexel used a penalty stroke and a goal with 15 seconds left.

Quinnipiac Arrives For Friday Night Game

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Molly McAndrews who scored the first goal last year against the Bobcats

Friday night, September 9th Lafayette renews their annual clash with Quinnipiac who is riding a two game winning streak. Last weekend they beat Dartmouth 4-1 and followed that a day later with a 1-0 upset of Maine at Maine. Last year the Leopards traveled to Hamden and defeated the Bobcats 2-0. This will be the first night game of the year for the Leopards, which will start at 7 pm.

The Bobcats will bring an experienced team with 9 seniors and 1 graduate student to the fray. It looks as though Coach Main will start a Freshman goalkeeper, Cristina Torres from Barcelona, Spain who currently sports a save percentage over 80.

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Although goals seem to be spread around, their lead scorer is Stella Tegtmeir, number 9, a senior forward from Germany who has five points ( 2 goals and one assist). Classmate Eva Veldlhorst has more shots (6) with 1 goal and two assists.

In three games, they have 13 penalty corners to 19 by their opponents. The Leopards on the other hand have had only 9 penalty corners in 4 games and averages 10.3 shots per game. In fairness, Lafayette has probably had a more interesting schedule by meeting a very tough but under appreciated Wake Forest team, and Temple who played Virginia very tough last weekend.

There is certainly more tape available now, so surprises by either team are unlikely. The Bobcats started the year against New Hampshire using 5 midfielders, 4 forwards and 1 designated defender, at Dartmouth went back a more conventional 3 forwards, 3 midfielders and 4 defenders. Against Maine they went with 4 forwards 5 midfielders and back with 1 defender. No doubt their midfielders do double duty as defenders and distributers.

Lafayette’s second half against VCU saw more intensity and resulted in a stronger defense and more shots. Lafayette’s task will be to get behind or around the Bobcat’s defense whether it’s manned by designated defenders or midfielders. They must bring that same intensity Friday night as Quinnipiac will be looking to avenge last years loss and continue their two game win streak!!

Remember the quote from Lou Holtz, football coach:

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Ability is what you are capable of

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Motivation what you choose to do

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Attitude determines how well you do it

A Tale Of Two Halves

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With apologies to Charles Dickens, I suppose you could say ” It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves. VCU got off to a two goal lead on three shots in the first half of the game despite the Leopards getting the first shot at 6:28 having ticked off the clock by Catalina Rubel. Lafayette also had the only corner of the game for both sides at 7:50. VCU drew first blood at 14:31 and the second goal happened in second quarter at 21:41.

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In the second half VCU only managed to get off two shots one occurring as Molly McAndrew first got on the board for the second goal of the weekend and the season. Unfortunately, the one goal margin was only to last for four minutes as VCU connected on their only shot of the fourth quarter.

However, the Leopards were not done as they battled by getting off 6 shots in the quarter one of which was a connection by Lineke Spanns at 56:14. Coach Stone pulled her goal keeper but try as they might, they could not get to the circle to deliver a tying goal.

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Lafayette had nine shots to VCU’s five according to the official score keeper. (I didn’t know if her name was “Defarge.)”. Alright I’ll stop now, but there was only one corner in the game and the VCU goalkeeper was forced to make seven saves.

The last quarter did have our Leopards diving for balls and chasing players and balls to the sidelines, all elements of play needed for a winning team. Quinnipiac comes to town on Friday and we’ll see if lessons were learned. A win would follow with a full game like the fourth quarter today!! Go PARDS

Wake Forest Routs Lafayette 6-1

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For those of you who are regular readers of this blog know, I seldom pull my punches. This was not a good game for the Leopards. The good news about tonight’s game is, I know they are better than they were today in Winston Salem. Molly McAndrew did get on the board for the first time this year, five minutes into the second quarter, making the score 3-1 at the time. It was still possible for the Leopards to make a run. However, it wasn’t until 1:45 into the second half that McAndrew was to get a second shot at the Wake goalkeeper.

Wake used their usual high press to pin the Leopards into their half of the field most of the game. Lafayette looked stunned in the first quarter when only 2:06 into the first quarter the Deacons managed to get their first corner ( their first of 9), and converted it into a score. Wake would score 2 more making it 3-0 after 12 minutes.

It looked like the Leopards might recover after Coach Stone make a change at GK and McAndrew hit her goal making it 3-1. The Leopards got possession with 28 seconds left in the half, and tried to make a run at the goal. The Wake press was to get the ball for the Deacons, and eventually a penalty corner, leading to a score making it 4-1 at the half with only seconds left.

The stats were all in Wakes favor, shots were 23-5, corners were 9-0, though they managed only 3 in the second half. Scoring was spread around to six different players. Besides McAndrew for Lafayette, there were three other shots, 2 from Laine Delmonte and 1 from Catlina Robel.

The Leopards will lick their wounds and travel to Richmond to meet VCU on Sunday. I am sure the team will rededicate themselves, and look like the competitors I know they are!!! It’s time to learn from mistakes and put it behind them.

Simone Hefting Nabs “Defensive Player of the Week”

Simone anchored a defense that allowed a mere goal apiece in the two games this weekend. It’s not the first time she was honored as she has been named innumerable times before for the same award. She was also named defensive player of the year as well as all league and pre-season defensive player.

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India nails the goal for the opening score

The Lafayette defensive three of Sydney Woolston, Simone, and India Ralph have become the mainstay of a defense that now leads the league. Defense has always been a feature of Leopard Field Hockey It is not only the wall against opponent’s scoring, it is the start of the Leopard’s offensive scheme. The center back position has yielded many stars and school award winners for best athlete and scholar athlete. Inevitably, the defense emerges as a scoring asset on corners and strokes because they may have the strongest and hardest shots on the team. They can propel the ball down field with accuracy and can be the beginning of a fast break.

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Sydney is an immovable force at defense

Simone hails from Den Bosch, Netherlands and attended Stedelijk Gymnasium. She is an International Affairs and Psychology major at Lafayette. Sydney Woolston is a civil engineering major from Berlin, N.J. and went to Eastern Regional High School. In high school she played multiple sports and was captain of her track team. India Ralph is the sophomore of the bunch coming all the way from New Plymouth, New Zealand and attended Sacred Heart Catholic College/ Saint Kentigern College and was their team captain. She also played on a club team that won national championships. She scored the opening goal on Sunday on a penalty stroke!!

The three have molded into an integrated, united unit that deserves to be lauded in a special way. Coming to Lafayette from three distinctive cultures, they are a something special to see. I Think They Deserve A Special Nickname. I Thought They Might Be Called ” The Fearsome Threesome”.

If anyone has a better idea please comment and I’ll consider it!!!

Leopards Get In Gear In 3-1 Win Ag Bryant

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Lafayette Uses Every Player Available

With the exception of the two non-starting goal keepers, Coach Jennifer Stone emptied her bench while building a 3-0 lead in the first half. There was three goals by three different players in an effort reminiscent of last year’s team scoring efforts. The scoring started with senior Felicitas Hannes who nailed a penalty stroke to the far left side of the goal at 10:40 into the first quarter.

It was a mere 8 minutes later and sophomore India Ralph added a goal to the score in a beauty, planted past the Bryant goal keeper who was force to make 13 saves during the afternoon. Ralph’s classmate, Mackenzie Hall got the first goal of her career, after a perfect pass from another sophomore Lineke Spanns making it 3-0 at the half!!.

 

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Lest one think this was an effort by a select few, this was indeed a team effort, where everyone was active. The defense was on their game with Simone Hefting, Sidney Woolston, and India Ralph shuting down the Bryant offense. They allowed only five shots….2 on goal! Freshman Raffi Fragomeni made the start and got the win. She was credited with one save but it seemed like she turned away several threats. She did have to face 4 penalty corners, while Lafayette earned 6 on the other side of the field.

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There were interceptions and tackles aplenty with Laine Delmotte, Ariel Schumacher, Josephine van Wijk contributing to the afternoon effort. I was especially impressed with a heads up play by Ellie Barton who intercepted the ball as she entered the field as. a substitute. It showed the intensity of the Lafayette team all afternoon.

I could hear Lineke Spanns giving instructions to others on the field as the communication was crucial in this afternoon’s effort.

With about 2 1/2 minutes to go Byrant scored and was challenged in a video review after which it was confirmed ending the scoring for game in a 3-1 win.

The Leopards will travel south to play ACC rival Wake Forest on Friday, after which they will be in Richmond for a game with VCU on Sunday. Wake lost to Michigan 3-1, William and Mary beat VCU 1-0

American beat Central Michigan 4-0, JMU beat Bucknell 6-2, Rider beat Colgate 5-1, Temple trampled on Lehigh 6-0, New Hampshire beat Boston U 5-2, while yesterday Holy Cross beat UC Davis 3-2.

Lafayette Succumbs To Temple 1-0

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Temple used its deep bench to help it overcome the heat, defeating the Leopards 1-0 for the first time in two years. Lafayette let its game be played between the 35 yard lines, while Temple was more effective penetrating that barrier and the circle resulting in the only goal of the game from Temple in the second quarter. Both teams were only able to manage 2 shots each in the first quarter, but Temple was to become more effective in the 3rd quarter with an 8 to 1 advantage in shots. Their shot production was aided by a 5-1 advantage in penalty corners in the same quarter.

For the entire game Temple outshot the Leopards 14-5 and had a 9-2 advantage in corners, and a 12-3 advantage in shots in the second half alone. Lafayette had 17 players see action, while the Owls had 21 players see minutes. The Leopard attack was shut down with Midfielder Lineke Spanns getting the only two shots on goal the entire game from the field. In total shots, defenders and midfielders accounted for 3 shots. Simone Hefting had one while Spanns had her two and Findley had two on one corner.

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In trying to even the game Spanns was to show her abilities, taking the ball from the center and down the side in the fourth quarter, using her gifted athletic talents and heart!!

Defender Sydney Woolston was there all afternoon collecting two defensive saves in the process. Emma Garvey acquitted herself well in her first start of her career getting 3 saves for the game.

Patriot League did not have a great day

Boston University had the only clear win of the day with a 2-1 win against Providence. However, they were outshot 7-5. They came from behind with Peyton Anderson getting the winning goal in the third quarter.

Twenty one ranked American lost to unranked Michigan State 3-1 despite playing a statistically close game.

Bucknell was impressive nearly pulling the upset against ninth ranked Louisville. A third quarter goal by Louisville broke the 1-1 tie and hold on for the win.

Holy Cross lost 6 minutes into overtime to Stanford after evening the score at 1-1 in the third quarter.

Lehigh battled back against Lock Haven overcoming a 3-0 deficit at the half. Lock Haven came out on fire scoring their first goal 28 seconds after the start of the game. They had a 6 to 4 advantage in corners. Lehigh got their second goal with two minutes left in the half. They will play Temple on Sunday at Temple.

Colgate has not finished their game with Merrimack as their game was halted because of weather at the start of. the second half. The game will restart on Saturday with Colgate ahead 3-0.

Bryant arrives at Lafayette on Sunday after losing 4-1 to LaSalle on Friday.