Ami Turner gets ahead of a Lehigh defender and passes the ball into the offensive circle
The Leopards will meet the Crusaders for the 32nd meeting between these schools. Lafayette has an edge with 18 wins against thirteen loses. The last win by Holy Cross was a 2-1 OT win in Easton in 2009. In that game, the Leopards had 26 shots to 3 for Holy Cross. The Crusader goalie had 12 saves in that encounter, but Lafayette scored the first goal in the first period and looked like they were on their way to a win when, with 6 minutes left to play, Holy Cross found the back of the cage to tie it up. The Leopards had chances in the end. including two corners, and the game ended in a tie. Two overtimes later. it came down to strokes and the Leopards ended on the short end losing 2-1. The Crusaders had a losing season and put the Leopards in a difficult spot regarding the playoffs.
Amanda Magadan and Ellen Colbourne closely guard a UConn player
This Crusader team is a better team coming in with a 6-9 record but having lost the last 6 out of 7 games. Their goalie, Inch is a key player and the Leopards must find their way to the circle to exercise their 24 pct scoring percentage. Holy Cross is 19 pct but take more shots and get more penalty corners than the Leopards have. Outside of Boston University I see no ranked team on their schedule but have posted a good win against Harvard early on.
Kirby Szalkowski turns ball around against Boston University
This is the part of the season where individual games matter. In order to get to the post season, these league games must end up in the W column. The Leopard’s fate is in their hands. They win, they are in the post season, if they lose its too complicated for my 70 year old brain to calculate but it is clear it will depend on other teams to make it all possible.
Twelve o’clock it all happens. The sky’s will be clear and a brisk fall afternoon is anticipated. Here’s hoping it ends in Maroon happiness!!! Come on out and enjoy the action.
Ami Turner introduces herself to an Ameican Eagle counterpart
The American Eagles came right out as expected with a high energy game and sprinted ahead of the Leopards, building a 3-0 lead in the first half. Getting behind early was not in the Leopards game plan as American was to use 23 fresh players during the game to keep Lafayette from coming back. The first three goals came after out shooting the Leopards 10-0 during that half and 5-0 advantage in penalty corners. Two of the three first half goals were off penalty corners . The Leopards were to close the gap early in the second period as Rosie Shanks was to get off a diving shot after a feed from Ami Turner with only 1:11 gone on the clock. But American was to respond with two goals of their own, the first coming 6 minutes later followed by another 3 minutes later. The last goal of the game was scored by Hannah Millen with two minutes to play on a penalty stroke.
Kendall Weedling’s stick gets the attention of an American defender
As I mentioned in a previous article the Leopards could win a place in the tournament by beating two of their last three opponents including American. Bucknell beat Holy Cross and now the Leopards need only to win next Saturday at Rappolt Field to secure their place in the post season. If they were to lose and still beat Colgate it would then go to a complicated series of tie breakers between three teams if Bucknell were to also lose to American. The tiebreakers might include everything including head to head outcome within the patriot league, relative scores, outcomes against out of conference opponents and even a coin flip.
Aliza Furneaux looks downfield as she carries the ball into American’s half of the field
So ladies, just win next Saturday and put an end to it. It’s that simple.
After the game I was treated to Birthday wishes from the team and their moms and dads. I consider them my second family, so combined with felicitations from my own family, the good wishes were well appreciated by this now 70 year old body. Many thanks.
We are getting to that time of year where each game takes on added significance, and we start to see who has a shot at getting to the National Tournament to pick the best in the nation. The Patriot League, based on last years RPI will get an automatic bid to NCAA tournament. The honor goes the Patriot League tournament winner. There are seven teams in the League, and the four with the best record and, surviving tie breakers will play a four team two day tournament, the winner to move onto the big dance. The are two things now for certain, Boston University is definitely in and Colgate is out, based on Boston’s 4-0 record and Colgate’s 0-4 record in the league.
Here are the league standings and the corresponding League records with the teams each league member will play in coming weeks:
Ami Turner delivers the ball upfield
Boston University 4-0 needs to play Lehigh and Bucknell
American U 3-1 needs to play Lafayette and Bucknell
Lafayette 2-1 needs to play American, Holy Cross, and Colgate
Bucknell 2-1 needs to play Holy Cross, Boston, and American
Holy Cross 1-2 needs to play Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh
Lehigh 0-3 needs to play Boston,Colgate, Holy Cross
Colgate 0-4 needs to play Lehigh and Lafayette
Kaitlyn Arnold and Hannah Millen protect the cage
So if you believe that Boston has locked in the home field, think again. If Bucknell runs the table, the first tie breaker is head to head competition. Bucknell would win the regular season and host. If Bucknell losses one of their three games they will not host but would make it in. If Lafayette ran the table and Boston lost one, Lafayette loses the tie breaker and could not host. Boston would have to lose to Lehigh and Bucknell and Lafayette would need to run the table for the Leopards to host. To lock in their place in the tournament all Lafayette needs to do is win two of the last three. Bucknell will have two tough final games against American and Boston. Winning both would be remarkable.
Kendall Weedling lines up a shot
Holy Cross needs to continue to win. Should they lose to either Bucknell or Lafayette, they are probably out. Lehigh plays Boston this weekend and even if they run the table are unlikely to make it in having lost to Bucknell and Lafayette. Colgate has no way in but could act as a spoiler to Lafayette should Lafayette lose to Holy Cross and American. Will Bucknell win against an improved and inspired Holy Cross team, helping the Leopards out??
We haven’t even talked about seeds…maybe next week!!??
So this weekend’s games will be closely watched and in all likelihood the field will be narrowed by the end of day. Interesting question is on the table for this weekend. What upset will spoil everyone’s calculations!
Katelyn Arnold stands tall in the goal against Bucknell
In most sports accounts, the writer concentrates on the player who scores the touchdown, goal, or makes some spectacular play and I will give credit to all those I mentioned in the title. But I also want to especially emphasize the final member of the team, Et Alia. Don’t go rushing to the roster list, or the final account of game on goleopards.com because Et Alia will not be mentioned. Et Alia is a latin phrase that appears often in legal text as the abbreviation et al, meaning everyone else. This game was won by Et Alia, the entire team. It is no secret, that the entire team was in a slump. After tuesday’s game against Penn there was depression settling over Pardsville. The Leopards looked out of sync, and out of sorts. Et Alia was not to be found.
Paige Macrae show her defensive skills as she blocks a Bucknell advance
But something changed in the last four days. The team that arrived on the field on Saturday for this important league game was not going to be denied. Bucknell arrived with impressive history having won the Patriot League regular season and not losing a league regular season game in two years. In fact, they had beaten the Leopards each of those years. But these games with Lafayette were always close and well fought. I have to admit I arrived at the field this year with some trepidation. A repeat of last tuesday would mean certain defeat and a struggle to make the playoffs.
As expected the Bisons arrived with a good plan, they were going to press high, and double team the Leopards outside players to shut down the transition game and keep the Leopards out of their offensive end. They were aggressive, and precise in execution. They also gave Amanda Magadan, and Ellen Coulbourne extra attention but they couldn’t guard “Et Alia.”
Kendall Weedling and et al. celebrate the first goal of the game as recorded by go leopards
The Leopards took advantage of opportunities, and as we know pressing constantly, takes some sacrifice in energy and defensive coverage downfield and the Leopards took advantage. Yes, Bucknell had a 17-8 advantage in shots, and a 10-4 advantage in corners. But as some sports sage said long ago statistics are for losers. Lafayette on this day used a team effort which included the efforts of Arnold, Macrae, Weeding, and Shanks who helped put points on the board and stopped goals when needed.
First Arnold came with save after save. Some were ordinary kick saves but there were others of the leaping variety. I believe Katelyn Arnold is the best goalie in the League and she proved that to the crowd and her opponents. Scoring started early with a Kendall Weedling goal delivered off an alert pass from Paige Macrae who had an outstanding afternoon. The two were able to take advantage of a fast break and took on the Bucknell goalkeeper two on one with Weeding deftly delivering the shot from goalie’s right side. The second goal was nearly 41 minutes later from sophomore Rosie Shanks who also executed a break, after a steal by Hannah Millen who passed to Macrae. The Bison were executing a break of their own when the Millen to Macrae pass to Shanks found her near the top of the circle facing the Bison goalie who had come out of the cage. Weedling meanwhile came speeding up the other side of the circle and Shanks shifted her focus to Weedling creating the hesitation needed in the Bison goalie, to allow a clean shot at the goal. It was a rocket that sounded with smack that was heard throughout the field.
Macrae was to get a goal of her own during a penalty corner as Amanda Magadan received the ball at the top of the circle delivered a pass to the reliable Paige Macrae who deflected the ball soundly into the cage for her third goal of the year. Bucknell was still to be heard from as Nicole Rupnick received a pass from Amy Mucelli and shot at 66:40 of the game into the goal.
The game was to end, as time ran out on a Bucknell corner which was stopped by a defensive save by Hannah Millen. Although it was meaningless toward the final outcome, it was a metaphor for the whole game. Bucknell battled to the end but Lafayette was not to be denied today by “et alia”,….. the team.
Aliza Furneaux beats a Bucknell defender to the ball
The Leopards are now 2-1 in the league and will meet 3 other league members in coming weeks, American this coming Saturday, the much improved Holy Cross Crusaders, and finally Colgate who eliminated Lafayette last year from the playoff. Lehigh with 4 loses has already been eliminated, and Boston University has clinched a berth with four wins.
The Leopards also welcomed back assistant coach Joey Civico who returned to the sidelines.
Senior Abbey Stefanides reaches for Penn ball in first action of the season for her
The field hockey season is one of second and third chances at success and saturday will present one of those opportunities. The Lafayette Leopards have now dropped back to 6-6, a .500 season, and will meet League rival Bucknell who is 5-6 against good competition. I would rate this game a toss up. Question…. will the Leopards step up and meet the challenge?? Last night they met a good Penn team and fell 5-0, Penn out shot them 15-8, out cornered them 11-4, and Lafayette left unguarded the leading scorer in the country who ended up scoring three goals and an assist. Saturday, Lafayette must bring all phases of the game to bear. Although Bucknell is 5-6 they are 2-0 in the League and a win would be a huge step to making the playoffs and putting them in position to host their second Patriot League championship in as many years. For Bucknell, the toughest part of the League schedule lies ahead of them. The Leopards are one and one in the League and have Holy Cross, American and Colgate remaining on their League schedule. A win would give them a solid position to get in the play offs which really is the third season and most important “season.”
Freshman Rachel Bird hits the ball past a Penn defender
However, Bucknell will bring a well coached and motivated team to Easton. There are common opponents. They beat Monmouth 2-1, lost to Albany 3-1, and beat Lehigh 4-2. Sound familiar? With the exception of the home field win over Lehigh the other two scores are exactly the same. Which team will arrive with the most desire to win on Saturday? Lafayette fans hope it is not the one that faced Penn, but the Lafayette team that has the talent to beat a tough league rival, Bucknell. Go Pards!!
Ami Turner gets ahead of a Lehigh defender and passes the ball into the offensive circle
In an emotional contest between arch rivals, Ami Turner found the back of the cage 54:31 into this important Patriot League contest. Lafayette came into the game with a 5 and 5 record but one loss in league games. Lehigh was 1-8 and had an 0-2 record. A loss by either team would have complications for making the league tournament at the end of the season. All the stops were out for Lehigh as they concentrated on neutralizing leading scorer Amanda Magadan. Amanda found herself double and triple teamed for most of the game, but Lafayette has more than one weapon as the Leopards dominated the final statistics. They led in shots 16-6, corners 9-2, and forced Lehigh to make 7 saves in second half.
The Leopards were to control the offensive pace from the beginning and were able to penetrate the Lehigh circle as Ellen Colbourne found herself open, becoming a big offensive weapon for the Leopard’s transition game. The Leopards got the first six shots. The last shot was to earn Lafayette their first score. After earning a corner, Colbourne inserted to Turner who set up a shot by Magadan who rifled a blazing ball past Julia Ward, the Lehigh goalie.
The Mountain Hawks were not about to lie down, and Lehigh answered with a goal of their own three minutes later by Lindsay Schott who received a pass from Zoey Pacheco at the post past Katelyn Arnold, the Lafayette goalie. There was to be no more offense for either side for the remainder of the period.
The second half opened strongly for Lehigh as they got the first two shots, which were deftly stopped by Arnold to keep the game tied. With the Mountain Hawks stymied, the Leopards redoubled their defensive efforts and the momentum began to swing. The defense was a team effort as the back line of Furneaux, Millen, Hunsicker, and Delahanty putting in minutes in reserve, became a wall with Furneaux also aiding the transition game by pushing the ball past fifty yard line numerous times.
Ellen Colbourne powers her way through the Lehigh defense
In stong evidence was Ami Turner who displayed her defensive skills as well by being all over the field, when Magadan ended up being triple teamed and Colbourne attracked more attention in the second half. At 54:31 Turner found herself face to face with the Lehigh goalie and got off a high shot, off the glove of the Lehigh’s Ward. recording the winning goal of the day. There were several chances for the Leopards to add to their lead as the tiring Mountain Hawks were forced to play defense most of the second half. Opportunities by Rosie Shanks and Kendall Weedling after the Turner goal were stopped by the Lehigh Goalie.
Kirby Szalkowski slips the ball past a Lehigh defender
A final opportunity for Lehigh was presented, as the Leopards were to receive a green card with about 5 minutes to play. The Mountain Hawks got off two shots, one of which was stopped by Katelyn Arnold the Lafayette goalie and the other blocked by a defender. The final possession was to belong to Lafayette as they earned a corner in the final minute and were to keep the ball in their end as the clock ticked to 00.
This was the 10th win in a row against Lehigh, a school record, and was the sixth win of the season leaving the Leopards with a 1-1 record in the league with four league games and three non -conference games remaining. The Leopards will take on a tough University of Pennsylvania team on tuesday before returning to their home field for another important game with league rival Bucknell on Saturday.
We are now into the meat of the Patriot League Schedule. So far, with a loss to Boston University, we are 0-1 in the League. Lehigh is 0-2, Holy Cross is 1-1, Colgate is 0-2 , Bucknell is 1-0, American and Boston University are 2-0. With a seven team league, 3 losses is virtual elimination in the four team tournament to decide the league championship. So for the team,forget about past games, this is a must win game. A win keeps us in the hunt and probably eliminates Lehigh and that’s always a good thing
So we arrive at Lehigh’s field on Saturday and for 70 minutes we must tackle like demons, follow the ball, run like this a championship game, make every touch of the ball count and find ways to get to the circle and finish. And there is the fact;
Beating Lehigh is so much fun!!!! So bring your best game because Lehigh will bring theirs. Eleven o’clock on Saturday…bring it!! GO PARDS!!
Reasons why we need to beat Lehigh:
Their colors are brown and white..( who picks colors like that)
They stole the sword from Lafayette’s statue sixty years ago and it still ticks me off.
Their football fans are rude
They are only 18 miles from Lafayette and that offends me
They used to be called the engineers and now they are called the Mountain Hawks ( Is there even such an animal, I think its actually an eagle??)
Their campus can’t be seen from Rt 22 unlike our school which is majestically visible as you arrive in Easton
I don’t like their football team, basketball team or any other of their teams
Replies from all sorts of fans:
Because WE like to paint Your leopard Brown and White
Goleopards.com captures Ami Turner and the team celebration after her goal in the second period
The Albany Danes used only two substitutes as they depended on two first period goals and a third goal in the final period to prevail in a game with the Lafayette Leopards. Before a crowd of over 500 fans ( the largest of the season), the Leopards battled, hoping to outlast a skilled Dane attack and perhaps the best player in country Paula Heuser from Monchengladback, Germany. Heuser put on a clinic on the drag flick as she scored two goals, one in each period to lead the Danes in a three to one hard fought contest.
Meg Lillis shows strong skills during the first period
The Leopards had hoped to use their defense to stop the Dane offense for most of the game, to allow the deep bench of the Leopards to gain an advantage in the second period. It did work to an extent, as the Leopards were to use 6 players from their bench to get 4 of their five shots in the second half, only to be countered with five shots by Albany. The whole game saw Albany get a total 8 shots to the Leopards 5. The difference perhaps was the ability of Albany to get 8 corners to Lafayette being shut out with the officials not seeing a penalty inside the circle against Albany all game.
Ami Turner and Hannah Millen provide defense during the early minutes
Ami Turner was to provide some excitement for Leopard fans, with about seven minutes to go by diving for the ball late in the game in the middle of the circle. Seeing an Albany player out of position she was able to flick the ball over a Dane defender’s head and into the cage to close the deficit to two.
Lafayette’s center back was injured after receiving a blow to the head from a stick, after a shot. The official needed to stop play as Hannah Millen was helped off the field with no penalty called. Hannah was not to be held out for many minutes of her senior season and returned to the game about five minutes later. Despite the after game ice pack I have no doubt the plucky center back will be in the lineup on Monday against Drexel.
It has been a dreary three games as the Leopards have endured the toughest part of their schedule, but not their most important part. Lessons learned in the last week will no doubt be applied against a 1-5 Drexel squad and an all important league game against arch rival Lehigh next Saturday at Lehigh. Fans will be looking for some of that offensive cohesiveness that carried them to their 5 wins earlier. The season is now half over and a winning sprint I believe could be in offing.
The crowd was sprinkled with a fair number of fans from youth field hockey leagues from Forks Township, who put on a display of skills at halftime for an appreciative crowd.
I love team sports because of the lessons it teaches real time. The athlete expose themselves every game to the real world. Unlike being part of a classroom, a club, or even a musical ensemble your mistakes on the athletic field or lack of preparation are exposed for all to see. Certainly, the group in the aforementioned activities suffers as well, but the individual almost never has to face the scrutiny of the world. Good athletes, good coaches ( they are after all, part of the team), and good administrators, should reexamine a loss to see what can be done better. A good team member, realizes they are not doing it just for themselves, but to further team goals.
Amanda Magadan and Ellen Colbourne closely guard a UConn player
I always preferred to hire team athletes, all other things considered, because they understood the concept of examining your own efforts to make the whole better. I hate the excuse makers, and the people who accept a loss. I cringe when I hear a coach or a player say, ” Oh, they were just better, or the refs were bad” instead of saying we learned some things today and our experience will make us better.” How about, if we just had more money, we could have better sneakers, then we would have won. Excuses can be just that absurd. That is how you turn a loss into a defeat.
Aliza Furneaux powers her way through two Uconn defenders
Giving into weaknesses instead of working hard to strengthening some aspect of your game, and learning from a loss, will result in defeat. Administrators have to learn to articulate weaknesses in the infrastructure, coaches have to make sure they give their team an opportunity to prepare themselves, and mentor a good attitude, and individual athletes have to ask themselves, everyday, have I done enough today to make myself, AND MY TEAMMATES better! Is there a skill I must spend some time on, that will make me be a contributor? Do I play hard enough in practice to make the other athletes on the team better?
Meg Lillis, Amanda Magadan and Aliza Furneaux surround a UConn player in the second half
A season has many ups and downs and there are opportunities and traps, and the true athlete and team member must avoid being defeated and learn from losses.
The Leopards will play number five ranked Albany friday night, and then the following Monday will be traveling to Phialdelphia to meet Drexel. It will be the following Saturday they will resume the all important league schedule with nearby rival, Lehigh in a must win game!! Coach Stone has always told me she recruits athletes of character first. I believe this IS a team of character who will not be defeated!!! Go Pards!!
Amanda Magadan chases down a lose ball against Boston University
Lafayette could not find consistent control of the ball, while Boston could not score from the field in a game where penalties played a huge role in the scoring chances. Both teams battled for 28 1/2 minutes before the first goal was scored. It was on a penalty corner by Boston University which from my viewpoint, and others should have been disallowed. During a penalty corner after the ball is inserted. the ball must exit the circle first. Then a shot can be taken once it is reinserted by the stopper. From my angle it looked like the ball never exited the circle. A review of the play by the streaming video was not obvious because of the angle. So, the Leopards retired to the sidelines during the first half with a 1-0 deficit staring them in the face.
Rosie Shanks and Meg Lillis surround Ellie Landsman of Boston University
At 43:38 a penalty stroke was called by the official, because in her judgement the goalie took out the attacking player while not making a play on the ball. The judgement call resulted in a penalty stroke and Boston’s second goal of the game. The final goal for Boston came on a less controversial play, although again on a penalty corner, which seemed to ricochet off a Lafayette stick into the goal at 46:38.
Ami Turner closes in against Boston University
It was then after a timeout by coach Stone, the Leopards came to life, pressing, and moving the ball with more alacrity. They started to find open receivers and threatened several times. Finally at 57:56 into the game on a penalty corner of their own, Amanda Magadan got a feed from Rosie Shanks and Kirby Szalkowski at the top of the circle and blasted a beautiful shot to the goalie’s left lower corner.
Leopard fans were hopeful with 12 minutes left there would be a miracle finish to make it a good day. But despite several good attempts including another penalty corner, time expired and Lafayette could not get the satisfaction of closing the gap.
Kirby Szalkowski turns ball around against Boston University
The closing statistics were hardly conclusive with Lafayette having 7 shots to Boston’s 11, four corners to Boston’s 3 and 2 saves to Boston’s 3.
This is certain to be a game Lafayette would want to play again and they might, if they get to the Patriot League playoffs. Boston is a very solid team and Sofi Laurito is the real deal. I did see improvement from Lafayette. especially in the second half and no doubt by the end of the season they will be even better, but Boston is a team that is justifiably ranked in the top twenty and one that mistakes cannot be made against, or you will pay a price. This was the best team we have played this year, so far.
The Leopards now move on to the number one ranked team and defending national champion, UConn tomorrow at 2pm.
Lafayette College Field Hockey 