Tag: Lafayette College Sports

It’s A Character 1-0 Win For Leopards As Fragomeni And Spaans Shine

Raffi Fragomeni has an excellent weekend with a 89 pct save percentage

In an intense game that was competitive right to the end, the Leopards emerged with a quality win. Leneke Spaans put the Leopards in the lead with her second game winning goal of the weekend. The one to zero lead was preserved right to the final buzzer as Fragomeni and the defense needed to turn away three straight corners in the last one minute of fifteen seconds. In addition, there were multiple video reviews which added to the tension. The last occurred with 3 seconds left after which the fans on the sideline breathed a sigh of relief with a 1-0 win against a quality opponent.

Spaans circles towards the goal

But be not misled, this was a team victory earned on the pitch today. It would be hard to name outstanding individual players as everyone put their heart and soul into earning the win. There was play after play when it looked like Delaware tried to turn it around and someone came up with a big play to reestablish momentum

Laine Delmotte and Josephine Van Wijk team up to stop Delaware advance

Although there is no official stat for time in the attacking end the Leopards would have had that stat hands down. It was not because Delaware was not a fine hard working team, but Lafayette’s speed and skill seem to overcome their opponents at crucial times. If there were mistakes, there was back up to turn it around. The Lafayette defense seems to be everywhere.

Lea Good and Mackenzie Hall trap Delaware along the sideline

American lost their second game of the year as Boston University lost to Boston College, Lehigh won over Wagner, Colgate lost to Ohio State and Holy Cross beat LIU in a shoot out. So Holy Cross and Lafayette are the only Patriot League teams emerging from the weekend undefeated.

Lena Thedrian was a force all game long!!

The Leopards will travel to New England risking their undefeated record against Dartmouth on Friday afternoon and New Hampshire on Sunday,

Lafayette Field Hockey Prepares for Challenging Opening Week

Spanns powers past her opponent

Columbia had a record of 3-13 last year, but looks to improve in 2024. However, along the way last season, they had several good games. They beat a very good Monmouth team 2-1, Lafayette 3-2, only lost to Princeton 1-2, and New Hampshire 0-1 in two overtimes. However, today, in Easton, the Leopards owned the Lions. I really don’t like to transmit scores in pre-season games, but I will say this, it was the Leopard team I hope we will see mid-season.

Inda Ralph lines up a shot on an APC

I saw speed, stick skills, strength and strong corner execution and defense. Stella Malinowski had the kind of day that earned her Rookie of Year in the Patriot League, Even some of the first year players got into it with Olivia Krey getting her first collegiate goal on a feed from Leneke Spanns in the second half. Junior Gk Raffi Fragomeni looked ready for prime time!!

Launching an attack penalty corner

APC’S were as sharp as they were numerous and DPC’s were solid. Much of the game was in the Leopard offensive end and the Leopards were able to turn the attack into fast break opportunities. Lafayette will give opponents at lot to think about. Yes, there is the ever present threat with Lineke Spanns. but once they try to concentrate on her there will be another Leopard waiting to sprint up the field, deflecting the ball into the goal on a feed, or dodging single coverage, freeing the ball to set up an attack.

There is a challenging week ahead with the regular season starting on Friday against Vermont. After that on Sunday the always dangerous University of Delaware Blue Hens arrive to test our Leopards. Vermont was 8-10 last year with a 3-2 win in OT over Lafayette. Delaware has been a regular preseason opponent for years, but this year the Blue Hens will travel to meet the Leopards at home. Delaware has the edge in wins 19-11-2 although they have been 6-8 at Lafayette. The last regular season game was in 2017. Last year they were 8-9 with wins against ODU, American, and Penn. Lafayette will be their first regular season game.

We are ready…. GO PARDS

THEY’RE BACK

It’s Saturday morning in early August and the Lafayette Leopards are back at work on Rappolt Field preparing for the 2024 Division one field hockey season. The legs are still fresh, the weather was perfect, and as the morning progressed it became obvious their machine like integration from last year renewed itself. This team saw itself go all the way to the championship game last year, and it was apparent this fast paced practice and intensity was showing the elements were still there to demonstrate play-off hockey.

The Maroon and White are returning 5 all league selections including all American Leneke Spanns. As the coaches put the team through its paces there was no doubt that the determination and skill were there…..and maybe more. Asst. Coaches Jop Beuger and Meghan Reese make sure no one was standing still, as continuous drills emphasized ball and body movement, while executing accurate passing and deflections at the goal.

New first year players absorbed information from their new teammates as well as from the coaches. Sweat was certainly visible, despite the relatively balmy weather as the drills delivered fitness as well as skill improvement.

Coach Stone was pleased with her veterans, but being the excellent coach she has demonstrated in the last 12 years, she looks forward to the development of others who will see more playing time and the first year’s players, as they become accustomed to the speed and skill of the college division one game. Stone has challenged her team with an interesting schedule which includes Syracuse, Penn State and Delaware. However, before the season begins there will be exhibition tune ups on August 20th and 25th at Fairfield and Columbia at home respectively. Both games will begin at 1 pm. The first regular season game will be with Vermont at home at 6pm under the lights!!

It’s not like the summer and spring have been idle for the Leopards. Much of the team has been practicing and playing internationally. Three Leopards participated in the Junior Pan Am games, Stella Malinowski, Laine Delmotte, and Katie Gibb. Raffi Fragomeni looked ready to defend the cage as she saw significant action last year!!

The Patriot League will be challenging with American defending their championship arriving at Rappolt Field on Sep 27 in the eighth game of the season. The first League game will be on the 20th of Sept in Worcester with Holy Cross at 4 pm. The away games with the Crusaders as well as the away games with Bucknell and Colgate always seem to be tough affairs.

There always will be THE GAME with Lehigh as they will try to avenge their one goal loss last year. This year the RIVALRY will be on home turf on Friday evening Oct 11 at 6 pm. Boston arrives on homecoming Oct 25 to avenge their loss to the Leopards in the semi final last. year. The last regular season game will be up north at Colgate on November 2nd.

Challenges abound but it looks like an exciting season for Leopard field hockey. I would not be surprised to see our heroines in the mix a for championship when its all over. The talent is there, the bodies are willing and the fans are hungry. GO PARDS!!

USFH IS GOING TO PARIS!!!!!

There are games that can just be a win, because of luck or just superior talent. Then there are games that demonstrate character…..today’s game with Japan in India was one of those games. The skill was there, but character drove them to the finish.The nervousness rose in this house this morning as the US was scored upon for the first time in this Olympic Qualifying tournament in the second half. Could they score and a least go to overtime!!!??

Not only did they score, but they scored twice in the closing fourth quarter minutes to secure that elusive ticket to the Paris Olympics. Japan pulled their goalkeeper to try even the game in the closing minutes, but the US was able to win a corner running clock in the process.

Team captain and Lafayette Alum Amanda Golini will be the first Lafayette alum to become an Olympian in one hundred years. The emotions were overwhelming. driving the team, its fans. and coaches to tears. David Passmore the head coach, was seen a little teary eyed at the end as well.

The team had been through the difficulties of coaching changes, and moving to Charlotte. In the end, not only did they persevere but thrived.

They will move on to play in the finals, their Paris ticket in hand. They are remaining in SE Asia for several weeks for pro league games, as they polish their skills before coming home.

Congratulations To Amanda And The Team As They Prepare For The Olympics!! Go USA

USWNT In Semi-Final For Olympic Qualifiers

Amanda Golini ’17 shows how defense is played by the underscored upon US Team

The US Women’s National Team launched themselves into the qualifying semifinals on the back of a 1-0 win over New Zealand today. The US is now undefeated and unscored upon after wins over India, Italy and New Zealand. They will now meet Japan on Thursday ( CBS Sports) in the semis. A win will place them in the finals and a sure trip to the Paris Olympic Games. A loss will move them to a play-in game in which a win will also buy them a ticket to Paris.

As to their latest tournament win, victory came on the back of a strong defense. A goal by Beth Yeager in the second quarter off a penalty corner, was to stand up after a strong defensive performance for the win. The US had 4 shots to 2 for New Zealand and the US had 11 penalty corners to 7. There was a streak in the 3rd corner when New Zealand had several corners in a row.

Lafayette parent/fan, Silvia Magadan beams with pride for her daughter’s accomplishments

The US had to work through 2 yellow cards in the second half which included a 3rd period in which New Zealand pulled their goalkeeper in an effort to put a score on the board.

This is a team that is coming together to the astonishment of the world hockey community. They entered the tournament ranked 15th. They will certainly leave the tournament much better than that. In the meantime they will need to tidy up their corners and finish more of their offensive opportunities.

Amanda Golini ( Amanda Magadan ’17) is displaying her leadership skills as captain. She is active on the field and had several key plays from her midfield position and on defensive penalty corners.

GO USA

Leopards Nab Four All Region Slots

Lafayette led the Patriot League with four all region selections. Lafayette is in the Mid East region along with schools like Penn State, Yale, Bucknell, Syracuse and Connecticut. The other Patriot League school that had multiple selections was American who had three in the Mid Atlantic Region.

Leading the Leopards was no surprise as Junior Lineke Spaans was selected for the first team. Joining her on the second team were Sophomores Josephine van Wijk and Makenzie Switzer along with the Patriot League rookie of the year Stella Malinowski.

Remarkably, all four will be returning to compete for the Patriot League title!!! In addition freshman Katie Gibbs and Junior Laine Delmotte have been selected for the Junior Canadian World Cup team playing in Santiago, Chile this week and next!!

The Leopards will be returning to their team, a group that saw the majority of minutes during their run as runner up in the League. They missed going to NCAA tournament because of a one goal loss in the Patriot League Championship.

By adding a decent freshman class next year and the return of several injured players the Leopards should be favored to take it all next year or I might eat a hockey ball if they are not !!! I can’t wait for spring, as skills improve and we can insert a healthy team to the pitch.

Go Pards!!

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 and George Score In 2-1 Victory In The Rivalry

National Ranking Improves to 23!!

Lineke speeds down the field

In a game worthy of its proximity to Halloween, it had everything one could want in a “Rivalry” game. The game had significance in that a loss for Lehigh would knock the defending Patriot League champions out of the playoffs. Lafayette was riding a 7 game win streak and wanted the momentum for the post season and Lehigh had won the last 3 rivalry encounters in close games.

The styles of play could not be more different, Lehigh was a forward leaning team taking aggressive chances while Lafayette played a more elegant skill dominant game. The danger for Lehigh was to over commit while Lafayette had to be aware of interceptions and hard tackling.

Van Wijk scores the first goal

The first half was a probing affair as each side looked for openings, Lafayette was to use either long passes to break open their offense and Lehigh looked for interceptions to get to the circle and set up penalty corners.

At the end of the first half, Lehigh was given a green card, which left the Leopards with a player advantage at the beginning of the third quarter!! But after one minute, a referee got a non contact injury, which required that a new official be called to come and substitute. Thankfully, the game continued after about a 1/2 hour delay. Lehigh retired to their locker room during the delay, while Lafayette was content to stay on the field and practice!

Naomi has first goal of her career unassisted

Once the game restarted, Lafayette executed a game changing effort. At 32:42 Josephine van Wijk broke the 0-0 stalemate with assists from Lineke Spaans and India Ralph during a corner. No one in the stands at that moment thought a 1-0 lead would be enough, and at 40:13 Naomi George fixed that with the first goal of her career, an unassisted strike.

DPC defense was up to the task

That final goal from Lafayette would prove to be needed, as Lehigh would score with about six minutes left in the game. Avery Ice connected with an assist from Julia Gatelein. At 57:53 Lehigh pulled their goal keeper in a last ditch effort it tie the score, but Lafayette rose to the occasion. All during the third and fourth quarters Lafayette continued to attack and had several scoring opportunities go unconnected.

The Leopards were rewarded in the end, with a rise in the Field Hockey Corner’s RPI ranking to 23 in the nation…the highest in the Patriot League. It should be noted that is 23 in ALL of division one The team, their fans and parents celebrated with an outstanding tailgate under a tent in the Lehigh parking lot. The last game of the regular season is Sunday against Temple.

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!!