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.
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.
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.
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!!!
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.
Spanns avoids the penalty while blocking a Drexel shot
The Lafayette Field Hockey team chose to celebrate Senior Day with another shutout during a cold and windy afternoon at Rappolt Field. Leneke Spaans used a Stella Malinowski feed to tip in a corner effort 5:47 into the first quarter. That was to be the only score of the afternoon while the Leopard defense stood tall keeping the Drexel Dragon off the board.
Lena Thedrian clears the ball from danger
Although managing 5 shots in the first half the Maroon defense held Drexel to two shots in the second half despite being down a player for many minutes, In fact, at one point they were short 2 players for multiple minutes! The game evolved into a physical affair as both teams combined for 69 fouls during the afternoon.
With about 3 1/2 minutes left to play Drexel pulled their goalkeeper to no avail and the Leopard defense stood strong once again concluding the game with a 1-0 win. Lafayette rotated six players off the bench while Drexel only use 2.
Laine Delmotte moves the ball into Lafayette territory
With the win the Leopards moved to 6-5 and 3-1 in the Patriot League and take that record to Boston to improve on that and keep them in the hunt to host the PL playoffs. They will be looking to improve on their winless on the road record as they meet Boston on Saturday and Providence on Sunday.
The Leopards celebrated the accomplishments of their senior class before and after the game. Introduced before the game was Ariel Schumacher, Carley Kreytak, Alexander Conway and Emma Garvey. But more about all four in a later article.
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.
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.
MacKenzie Switzer receives the ball with Stella Malinowski trailing
The Leopards dominated every game statistic imaginable, and brought an important Patriot League win to their bottom line. If one had watched the Crusaders before Saturday, it would not have been a surprise that Lafayette would have had 17 versus. 4 shots, 10 versus 2 shots on goal, 9 versus 2 penalty corners and have the score 2-0. Holy Cross GK Brooke Ross came through with 8 saves at crucial moments. which kept the Crusaders in the game.
Lena Thedrian moves past a Holy Cross defender
But it was a good game for the Leopards, as they executed together to get those two goals, where creating space and movement away from goal contributed as much as the goal scorers themselves. Also Lafayette was aggressive in secondary shots close in. Nothing more demonstrated that than the first goal at 6:48 into the game. Up until then, there were a number of shots take directly at the Holy Cross keeper. That first score was created as the Leopards came at the Holy Cross right side. In the scoring sequence, the play started at the right hand side, meanwhile freshman Lea Good was at the far left of the circle. As Lafayette approached the goal, Good sprinted catching Ross committing to the right hand side. The crossing pass was delivered and Good got her first goal of the season.
Catalina Rubel sprints on her way to the circle
It wasn’t until 41:58 that Alex Darrah was to show some grit delivering the ball to the back of the cage by poking it past the keeper and a defender, during a scrum in front of the cage. Good in that case got the assist and the goal was enough to give the Leopards the 2-0 win.
During the game Lineke Spaans was an ever present threat with 5 shots during her 47 minutes on the field. It was clear the Crusaders were wary of number 8 all game long, as she was often was guarded closely with as many as 3 Holy Cross defenders. Also of note was the strong play of Lena Thedrian, using her skill in ariels to keep the ball on the attacking side of the field.
Leneke Spaans flies around the Holy Cross Defender
Catalina Rubel put in 45 important minutes and fans often found her threatening in or near the circle with 5 shots during the afternoon.
Raffi Fragomeni earned her second shut out of the year with 2 saves in a perfect afternoon. By virtue of the win, the Leopards are in command of their own future with regard to the League playoffs. Bucknell lost to Boston in double overtime ( without their star Lily Neilson) bringing their record to 1-2. Holy Cross is 0-3 in the League while Colgate’s loss to Lehigh makes them 0-2. Lafayette is now 2-1 tied with Boston and will play Colgate next Saturday. Bucknell will play American so a loss by Bucknell coupled with a win by the Leopards will create three teams with 3 losses all of which Lafayette has beaten. By virtue of the tie breakers the Leopards will have qualified for the tournament.
Defense always on the minds of the Leopards
There is still a chance to host if Lafayette runs the table and American loses two of their remaining league games. However, that sort of speculation should left to fans and concentration on the next game with Colgate is paramount. It will not be easy. as Colgate did give American a tough time earlier in the season during a 1-2 loss.
This young team is starting to meld, and keeping their eye on the next challenge will be important. It’s Colgate next week and only Colgate which is important!!!
GO Pards!!!
Just saw the behind the goal view of Lea Good’s goal and I got it soooo wrong. As Lea entered the circle on the right hand side and Katie Gibb delivered the ball to Good, she took the shot going past the GK on her left hand side. Number 17 Ellie Barton was there to deflect if needed. Congrats to our PL recognition awards to Lea and Raffi with Katie for honorable mention!!!
In a match that is key for both Lafayette and Holy Cross, Saturday’s meeting could mean a lot to making the four team Patriot League playoffs. The Leopard’s must shake off a disappointing loss to American and hold off a Crusader effort to not leave with no wins in the League. Although an 0-3 record would not eliminate the Crusaders, it would make it an up hill climb with American, Lehigh, and Colgate yet to play. The Leopards on the other hand could finish Saturday with a 2-1 record with Colgate, Boston, and Lehigh to play. One more additional win for Lafayette would make it easier to assure a spot for the post season and one more additional loss would put Holy Cross on the sidelines.
Lafayette has played 3 top 25 teams on the way to a 3-5 overall record and beaten Bucknell, to arrive at a 1-1 record so far in the League. Holy Cross has lost in a close game with Bucknell 2-3 and suffered a four goal loss to Boston University. My take is beware the desperate opponent, so nothing should be taken for granted. Games with the Crusaders have for the most part been competitive affairs. Last year the Leopards came out ahead 1-0 up in Worchester.
The statistical differences are interesting and show opportunity on both sides. Goaltending seems to be a strength for Holy Cross with Brooke Ross having a 76% save percentage on a team that has given up 23 goals with 165 shots against them. Raffi Fragomeni has give up 17 goals against tough competition and on only 77 shots.
In Holy Cross’ most recent game the pattern was the same as they gave up 11 shots and 2 goals to lose 1-2 in overtime. Lafayette has given up 40 corners but earning 46. Holy Cross has given up 76 corners but earned 41. The Holy Cross shot percentage is 14 percent and opponent have an equal success rate with more shots. Lafayette’s shot percentage is 17 percent while their opponents have been 22 percent.
Lafayette certainly has the horses to have an impact. Leneke Spaans still leads the league in assists while Josephine van Wijk is among Patriot League leaders in goals with 6. Maquire Sturgis number 6 is the Crusader leading scorer with 3 goals in 8 games.
Look for the Crusaders to try to use a high press, long passes and short ariels to get past the Leopard defense. That seems to be their MO. Lafayette will use their deep scoring bench to wear down the Crusader bench and defense. Multiple shots and corners will tip the balance no doubt. In the last game against Byant they used only four players off the bench, I would expect the Leopards to be able to put close to double that number in quality players on the field.
No doubt it will be an intense match with the contest’s first period a struggle for either team to get the first goal. Noon Saturday for all you homecoming attendees!!!
Lafayette College Field Hockey 