Tag: division one sports

Leopards Sprint To 2-1 Win Over Vermont

Mackensie Hall looks to intercept the ball

Getting the first win of the season is always well earned, and before a home crowd of 357 fans, the Leopards did not disappoint. It was more than a contest that demonstrated skill and athletic ability, but had elements of field hockey strategy as well.

The game opened with both side trying to establish physical dominance as the first 4 or five minutes moved from one side to the other. The Leopards deep bench was to come into play and at the 5 minute mark, fresh legs in the form of Alex Farrah, Mia Freeman, Maddie Evans, Kiley Gallagher entered the pitch. Vermont answered with substitutions of their own and produced the first shot of game that went wide of the pipes. It wasn’t until 11:31 into the game that Mackenzie Hall was to have Lafayette was break the ice with a shot that was wide of the goal.

Makenzie Switzer sprints upfield

The Leopards were to gain momentum when 30 seconds later Josephine van Wijk took her chance at the goal and ws turned away by the Vermont goal keeper Ila Gunner. As the quarter progressed Lafayette was to attack the goal more often with shots and an eventual corner at 12:12. Pressure on the GK continued with van Wijk finding opportunities to pressure the cage.

Kiley Gallagher dodges around the Vermont defender

At the beginning of the second quarter, Lafayette was to find the back of cage at 18:53 as Lea Good, with an assist by Laine Dellmotte were to open scoring for 2024. Leopards fans needed only to wait about six months as all American Lineke Spaans drove the right baseline beating the Vermont defense for an unassisted goal at 25:07. The Leopards were to retire from the first half with 2-0 lead with Vermont on their back heals.

Vermont was to answer by trying to negate the Leopards speed with a zone defense which resulted in a Vermont goal from Marie Dijkstra assisted by Meg Weyer at 49 seconds into the second half. The shot came on a reverse move that had a Lafayette defender shielding Raffi Fragomeni from seeing the ball.

Vermont had signaled they were not going down easy. One had to remember last year’s game with these same opponents, which ended up in a tie at the end of regulation and Vermont eventually winning it in overtime…..not this time.

Lineke Spaans shows her defensive skills

Lafayette redoubled efforts getting four penalty corners to one in the second half. Fragmeni was to was to turn away two shots during the same half. Vermont itself turned away three Leopard shots but couldn’t get by the Leopard defense. As the clock ticked off the last 2-3 minutes of the game Lafayette played an effective game of keep away with Spaans going to the Vermont corner repeatedly, denying Vermont and offensive chance to tie the game. With thirty seconds left, Vermont gave away a deliberate corner stopping the clock hoping for one last chance. Instead of taking the shot Spaans again went to corner ending the game with the 2-1 win.

Sunday will see the Blue Hens of Delaware in Easton. Although the Leopards have a hold on wins at home, Delaware has the edge overall in the series. The Patriot League had a mixed bag Friday night with American losing in overtime to VCU, Boston picked up a 3-0 win against Providence and Holy Cross winning dominantly against Stonehill. Bucknell lost a close one to Miami of Ohio. Colgate succumbed to Rider 5-1. Lehigh plays on Saturday at Monmouth followed by Wagner on Sunday.

First Contact…A Work In Progress

After a week of hard work the 2024 Field Hockey Leopards had their first taste of intercollegiate competition. It was “first contact” for both the Leopards and the Stags of Fairfield University. Fairfield won their league title last year and Lafayette went right to the Championship game. This will be Fairfield’s coach, Jackie Kane’s last season. Her tenure goes all the way back to when Fairfield was in the Patriot League. So this may be a year of special incentives for her.

The Stags pretty much stayed in a zone defense most of the game as Lafayette tried to crack it without much success. This was Lafayette’s freshman GK’s debut and she held her own. Addison Kahn was very solid between the pipes most of the game, but did give up a goal on a DPC in the first 90 seconds of the match. Lafayette couldn’t find the back of the net until the last 90 seconds to tie it up. The seven on seven segment was well played with the Leopards executing a nice goal that in the regular season would ended the game.

Last year during the regular season the Leopards won in a close 3-2 match. Many newcomers saw some action during the match. My general impression is the team was not at its end of year best and it is how I remembered them. As the days go by these well skilled players will get used to the speed of the game and where their teammates are on the field.

The next test is at home with Columbia on Sunday at 12 pm. Lafayette lost to these same Lions last year and it could be a strong benchmark before the opener with Vermont later next week. It’ll be interesting to see the progress!!

The Leopards Finish Spring Training Solidly

Spring training is a time for coaches to experiment and observe. They use it evaluate players, try new schemes, refine skills, and encourage fitness. In the end, the team will finish their semester and depart for a summer of rest and decompression before beginning pre-season workouts. For some, it will be a time of healing, and strengthening as they prepare their bodies for the stress of a strong division one schedule.

Although not announced or finalized, the fall schedule will not be an easy one. Aside from the normal rotation of Patriot League foes, the team will face, from what I can glean, a slightly higher level of out of conference foes, as well as some new opponents, who have been improving lately. There will be no powder puffs this fall.

The new class is not yet announced, and indications are there will be a few last minute additions. Key additions will no doubt include a second goalkeeper. Lafayette was forced to either play without a goalkeeper this spring, or use Coach Maura Schimp as the fill-in keeper. ( By the way it looks like she has lost none of her all league skills, in her impressive time in goals). It also provided an interesting perspective to coach our defensive players on the field during games this spring.

A high priority was to sort out the Leopard’s defensive schemes, and in that regard, the effort was a success. Play against nationally ranked teams, like Syracuse and St. Joe’s was successful. Penn’s skill and progress was evident, but the Leopards were up to the task, as it was against Monmouth in the second game of the spring. The Lehigh game showed that the Rivalry is still alive!!!

The spring finale against Temple was evenly contested, and Leopard’s intensity was there in front of the cage especially in the second half. Peyton Guinter, who sat out most of the season last fall due to injury showed she will be a player to be contended with. Her goal was a gritty shot as she attacked the ball in front of the cage. It was the first goal of her college career. One concern in the game was the lack of offensive corners by Lafayette.

Stella Malinowski looked like she is returning to her “rookie of the year” form as did all Patriot Leaguer Josephine van Wijk. Co-Captain India Ralph was in mid season form as was Lena Thedrian who was all over the field contributing.

Summer will find the responsibility for training on the individual players, and perhaps the level of preparation will determine whether this team will vie for a championship. The talent is there.

Lafayette Enters The Post Season Capturing 5 All League Honors

Patriot League Tournament Most Balanced In Years

Spaans blows by BU defender

The top four teams in the League standings are still playing this Thursday in the semi-final round of the Patriot League tournament, and anyone is capable of the claiming the championship on Saturday. For example, Bucknell is seeded fourth but all three of their league losses came with one goal margins or overtime shootouts.

Lafayette claimed the number 2 slot, and was tied with Bucknell with a scoring margin of 1.51 positive and with number of shots (86) considering only league play. Lafayette has the stingiest defense of the group by allowing only 5 goals over the 6 games.

In corners earned, American leads the pack with 59, BU has 38, Bucknell has 37 and Lafayette has 30. Bucknell leads with 16 goals, then Lafayette with 14, American with 13 and Boston recorded 12 goals during the PL season.

But the task at hand is the semi-final game tomorrow. Lafayette plays at 2 pm after the American /Bucknell game. Boston has always been known for their defense and how it creates offensive opportunities but the Lafayette defense has been stellar this season.

The Leopards will enter the playoffs after capturing five all patriot honors. Stella Malinowski was rookie of the year, Lineke Spaans ad Mackensie Switzer made first team and Laine Delmotte, Josephine vanWijk, and Stella Malinowski were named to the second team. It should be noted that is three juniors, a sophomore, and a freshman, all returning next year.

During the play by play last Saturday between American and Boston the announcer said how that game could be the preview of the championship game. Lafayette will have something to say about that by captains Spaans and Ralph, and the team. An eleven year veteran coach, Jennifer Stone will have the team ready. This is an intense competitive group that will be on the turf in the coming days!! Couldn’t be more excited for the tournament.

Go Pards!!

van Wijk Delivers Winning Goal In 2-1 Overtime Win Against Quinnipiac

Stella Malinowski scores tying goal in fourth quarter

So your team has 25 shots vs 11, 12 shots on goal vs 6, and 14 corners vs 6, but must need some fourth quarter and overtime heroics to win the game 2-1. The Quinnipiac defense stood tall for most of the game and protected their 1-0 lead, acquired in the first quarter, for 43 minutes and 57 seconds before Stella Malinowski delivered on a penalty stroke to knot the game at 1-1.

Lafayette got off numerous shots but were turned away by a red hot Cristina Torres, the Quinnpiac goalkeeper. The Leopards were stopped on all their 9 penalty corners racked up in regulation time. During the first quarter, it looked like Lafayette would be well in control until the Quinnipiac defense started to dig in,

During overtime where it is normally 7 v7 most fans would have thought the Leopards were in a good position as passing and shooting lanes would be more open. The first minutes in fact would be 6v6 at the start as both teams had two green cards.

Lafayette played strategically, holding the ball until their card expired and they would be one person up for about 40 seconds. Although they were to generate some offense they still could not get past the Tiger goalkeeper.

As the overtime period ticked on the Leopards were to get a remarkable 5 corners in row. However, at 4:40 into the overtime, Josephine van Wijk was to take a feed from Lena Thedrian and India Ralph scoring the winning goal. The Leopards are now 10-5 and will meet Lehigh who lost 4-0 to Albany today.

Emma Garvey, the Lafayette Goalkeeper kept her unbeaten streak alive, making several key saves against Stella Tegtmier, the Tigers ace midfielder.

Lineke Spaans along with van Wijk had 6 shots. It was Spaans’ drive to the goal that set up the Malinowski penalty stroke.

Without doing a lot figuring, with Boston to meet to meet American and Bucknell to meet Colgate I believe Lafayette will probably meet Boston in the first round of the League playoffs.

Go Pards Beat Lehigh!!

Spaans Lifts Leopards To 4-0 Win

Josephine van Wijk zeroes in on Towson midfielder

With two unassisted strikes to the back of the goal Lineke Spaans led the Leopards to their sixth consecutive win, as the season rapidly growing to a close. They guaranteed a winning season for the themselves, at least a second place league finish, and a ranking in the top 30 in the nation. The last league game is with Lehigh in one week, and the last regular season game with Temple awaits after that.

They will first need to conquer I 95 in Connecticut tomorrow as they travel to a game with Quinnipiac on Sunday. Always a competitive opponent they will put their 9-5 record on the line at 12 noon. It’s unclear whether it will be televised.

India Ralph lines up the shot

Spaan’s contributions are the latest in her season of dreams. She seems to lead and inspire her team to greater accomplishments every week. In a undergraduate dominated team, this Junior athlete uses her speed, skill and intensity to the admiration of team members and fans alike.

The first period, last night, was a series of probing action from both sides that ended in a 0-0 tie. Towson was impressive as they had speed of their own and executed their plan perfectly. Each team at the time had one penalty corner, and shots were divided 2-3. with saves tied at 1-1. It was Spaans who broke the scoring draught, with three minutes left in the first half by breaking away as she went into another gear leaving Tiger players in her wake. Winding up she struck with an unassisted goal to give the Leopards the 1-0 lead after the first 30 minutes.

Spaans and Co get ready for an APC

The momentum began to shift in that second quarter as the home team recorded a 6-3 advantage in shots as the horn signaled the half ended. Analysis from the sidelines energized the Leopards, as Spaans was to lead her team for the rest of the game.

At 8 minutes and 44 seconds into the second half Spaans struck again with a similar break away using a reverse stick shot from the left side of the circle to give the Leopard the 2-0 lead. Three minutes late Stella Malinowski excecuted a beautiful penalty stroke to lift Lafayette to a 3-0 lead.

Lafayette was not done yet as Maddie Evans got her first career goal with the help of first year classmate Lea Good in 4th quarter to finish the scoring for the night. The Leopards were to finish with 25 shots, 15 on goal to the visitor’s 6 shots, and 3 on goal. The Towson goalkeeper needed 11 saves to contain the damage.

The final seeding is not done yet as American meets Holy Cross on Saturday where a win by the Crusaders and a further loss against BU and win against Lehigh next Friday could still put the Leopards in position to host. Lehigh lost to Bucknell 5-0 and next week is their last chance to make the playoffs.

Go Pards!!

Darrah Does It In 3-1 Win Over The Friars

Alex Darrah is on defense closely defending

Over the course of a season, success is often the result of a variety of team members stepping up to the challenge. One of those is Alex Darrah, who today scored two goals against a very talented and aggressive Big East opponent, Providence College. Alex was all over the field and was a key contributor on both sides of the field. The midfielder/ forward has gotten better and stronger as the season progressed, and is now a key contributor for the Leopards.

Both of Darrah’s goals came with an assist from Leneke Spaans who had 3 shots on goal along with her goal at 58:08 as an insurance strike. Alex Darrah had her first goal at 16:20 deflecting a Spaans’ pass at the left post. The second goal came after a Providence goal at 42:02 which tied the score. Alex’s goal came only 1 1/2 minutes later to put the Leopards ahead for good.

Lena Thedrian was a strong factor on defense

It was a total team effort, and there was clearly a 110 pct effort on the field. Names like Thedrian, Switzer, Good, come to mind but it would be hard to leave out every member of this squad who put together a perfect weekend and their 5th straight win. The bench was factor as the intensity grew. There were six Lafayette players who came off the bench and had an appearance in the game, compared to only three from the Friars. Ariel Schumacher had a shot and Catalina Rubel had 30 productive minutes.

Coaching staff instructs during quarter breaks

Emma Garvey got her 3rd straight win with a 78 pct save percentage on the season.

The Leopards were rewarded by receiving a 30th and 31st national ranking by Field Hockey corner. Next week will be a bye week with games against Quinipiac and Towson. There’s a lot to be proud of, and the coaching staff has to be very pleased with more to come!!!.

******. Late last night using the official boxscore they had Alex Darrah with the second goal of the game. This morning it was changed to have Leneke Spaans with the goal. So Leneke had two goals against Providence which combined with her goal against Boston pushed her to the PL offensive player of the week.

Alex had a terrific game and my impressions stand!!!

Go Pards!!!

Spaans Connects For The Game Winner And The Defense Contains For PL Win Over BU

Spaans blows by BU defender

The Leopards defense contained the BU offense for most of the game. While neither team could score in the first half, BU could not even get to the shooting circle. But it was a Leneke Spaans’ early second half goal that was to put the Leopards on top for the rest of the game.

The swift Leopard quickly and unexpectedly took a restart and rocketed a shot from the top of the circle at 31:25. That was to stand up until the end of the game. Lafayette’s defense was to stand tall and turn away the Terrier offense early and often.

They were to intercept passes, tackle with authority, and switch fields with great skill. Lena Thedrian, along with Mackenzie Switzer were all over the field making tackles, and moving the ball to the the offense. Stella Malinowski showed the ability that made her Rookie of the Week. Lea Good was in the face of Boston offensive players while dribbling past defenders. Spaans flew around the Boston defense almost at will as they were stymied by her speed and skill.

Garvey has second shut out in front of NE fans!!

Emma Garvey recorded her second shutout stopping two key shots in the second half as the Terriers started to tilt the field in their favor.

Lea Good shrugs off close pressure by a BU defender

The Leopards had to overcome a green card on India Ralph at the beginning of the fourth quarter. As the clock ran down, Leneke used her considerable stick skills in running out the clock at the corner of the field.

Mackensie Hall breaks free

Lafayette is now 7-5 overall and 4-1 in Patriot League play. They will await the results of the last PL games to see were they will be seeded in the PL tournament. The last PL game will be with Lehigh in two weeks as they enter a League bye week.

Tomorrow they will meet a tough Providence team!!

Lafayette Powers To 6-0 Win Against Colgate

Spaans loads up to deliver the first of two goals against Colgate

In the sport of baseball a perfect game is defined as no hits, etc. In other words, its when nothing happens. The Leopards had a perfect game for 3/4 of the match with Colgate and it was anything but dull. For most of the first quarter my age lines were extending on my face and I feared this was going to be one of those Colgate games that could be difficult. Maybe it was the cold, maybe some overconfidence, but all it took was a Leneke Spaans rocket with 15 seconds left in the first quarter with an assist from Lena Thedrian and Stella Malinowski on a corner, to snap the team to attention.

Stella Malinowski lines up the penalty stroke

Maybe it was encouraging words from coach Stone between the quarters but the team in maroon just went into high gear from that point on. Passes became sharp and targeted, and the team hustle resulted in interceptions that led to a flood of offensive power for the rest of the game.

The second quarter was a dam burst of 3 goals. The first came from Alex Darrah 1:27 into the quarter to make it 2-0. With only 2 minutes running off the clock Stella Malinowski delivered on a penalty stroke to make it 3-0. The second quarter was not to end until Leneke Spaans was to get her second goal of the afternoon on a corner with Lena Thedrian getting her second assist this time with India Ralph in on the action. Half time ended with the score standing at 4-0 in favor of Lafayette.

Lea Good get control inside the circle

The home team wasn’t slowing down when Lea Good got help from Mackensie Hall on a tip into the left hand corner in the third quarter. Just to even things out Stella Malinowski got her second goal with help from her classmate Lea Good in the fourth.

Nothing but Maroon players in the circle!!!

Other stats reinforced the outcome with Leopards leading in shots 27-4 and SOG 17-0. The Colgate GK made 11 saves during the game. Lafayette used 20 players in the game and Emma Garvey relieved Raffi Fragomeni in the 4th quarter. Unrecorded was a spectacular leaping save by Garvey to preserve the shutout.

With a win today Lafayette now has a 3-1 record in the League and rises to .500 overall. Although not yet recognized by the League, the win today coupled with the loss from Bucknell, propels Lafayette into the playoffs. The worst the Leopards can do now is 3-3 and the best Holy Cross, Bucknell and Colgate can do is 3-3. Lafayette has beaten all three and would then prevail in any tie-breaker.

Corner defense rises to the occasion

However, there is more. There is still a path to hosting, with Lehigh and American to meet on Friday, and the Eagles will play Holy Cross in following weeks while contesting Boston for the last league game. Lafayette travels to Boston on Saturday and will see Lehigh in the last league game of the season.

Tomorrow Lafayette will want to move to a winning record by recording a senior day win against a tough Drexel team.

GO Pards!!

Important Weekend For Patriot League Field Hockey

The Patriot League season is about 1/2 over and there could be clarification for some regarding the post season. Lafayette is presently 2-1 in the Patriot League. A win on Saturday coupled with a loss by Bucknell against American will guaranty at least a position in the playoffs by virtue of tiebreakers. At that point with a win, Lafayette would be 3-1 and Bucknell would be 1-3. Lafayette would have beaten Bucknell, Holy Cross and Colgate. This is applicable according to PL rule, In case of a two-way tie between teams in the final standings for regular season League play, the following process will be used until all ties are broken…..Head to head competition – the higher seed will go the team that has won the most League contests with the other team involved in the tie

There is still a path for Lafayette to host if the Leopards run the table in future league games and American loses 2 of their remaining 4 games. The standings as of today look like this:

Lehigh 2-0, American 2-0, Boston 2-1, Lafayette 2-1, Bucknell 1-2, Colgate 0-2, Holy Cross 0-3.

Besides the Lafayette v Colgate game, America plays Bucknell, Lehigh vs Holy Cross and Boston has a bye week. The Leopards will play Boston a week from Saturday. That same day Lehigh will play American. The Leopards will play Lehigh as the last PL game of the regular season.

Go Pards!!!