Tag: NCAA Division one

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

On to Colgate…more about that later!!!

WCR

The game was postponed for one day due to bad weather and if I had to guess Sunday morning the weather still would have been an impediment. The drive down was miserable, with multiple car accidents and two professional football games in the area. However, the weather held up as the Leopards responded with a good first quarter with Ariel Schumacher scoring her first goal of the season with the help of Josephine van Wijk at 6:39. The play started as a penalty corner with a Katie Gibb insert resulting in the van Wijk to Schumacher combination close to the goal.

As the first quarter went on there was reason to be optimistic as Lafayette used their offensive weapons which included Leneke Spaans, van Wijk, and Delmontte who were used to break the American press. Lafayette made liberal use of ariels to get behind a defense that attempted to push the Lafayette back line towards their own goal and intercepting passes.

Statistically, Lafayette had 3 shots to 1 for American and 2 corners to American’s 0 corners. The weather retreated to the background as this looked like it might be a Leopards day.

The succeeding quarters turned that optimism around. As you could hear American Head Coach Steve Jennings from the sidelines, the Eagles responded with an early goal in the second by graduate student Megan Hoffman at 18:58. Neither team was to get any further corners, in fact Lafayette was not to get a corner for the remainder of the game. The Leopards did manage one shot in the second quarter but did not get a shot off at all in the second half.

The Eagles broke the tie at 38:05 as Charlene Boshoff assisted roommate Megan Hoffman off a corner, one of three in the third quarter. The graduate combination continued with American’s third goal in the fourth quarter with a goal at 49:57 off another penalty corner, their fifth of the half against none for the Leopards. Their defense continually pushed the Leopards back. Spaans continued as a threat but there were no circle penetrations I could remember in that second half.

The Leopards will move on with home games against Holy Cross and Colgate as they renew their Patriot League season with a current record of 1-1. American is now 2-0 and will play non-league opponent Delaware next week. Odds are that American may host while probably making the playoffs. But it’s a long season to go and the Leopards will need to refocus, get to the playoffs and a chance for redemption. In the meantime this fan will remember the line in the American account of the game on their website,” American Thunders Past Lafayette.” First, there are those PL league games with Holy Cross, Colgate, Boston University and finally the Brown clad Lehigh team down the road!!!

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and the 3-2 win by the Leopards over the Stags of Fairfield was certainly a great effort by the whole team, but a hat trick by freshman Stella Malinowski and a key stop of a penalty stroke ( not to mention her other 5 saves) gave the team and the coaches reason to jump for joy at the out come.

The game had all the drama a spectator could want in an afternoon. Augustine Casteluchi opened the scoring for the Stags off a feed by Catalina Ness with about 6 minutes into the first period. The Leopard faithful had to wait for 19 minutes before Malinowski was to strike her first goal of the afternoon, after a feed from India Ralph on a penalty corner. Lafayette seemed to have control of the game, keeping most play in the first half in the neighborhood of the Fairfield goal. The first half ended in a 1-1 draw, but most Lafayette fans seemed confident going into the second half.

Despite earning an early second half penalty corner Lafayette failed to convert on the effort, and Fairfield lept into a counter attack which resulted in a go ahead goal a 31:17 penalty corner of their own, making the score 2-1. Fairfield went to sort of match up zone and were able to disrupt the passing of the Leopards but, Fragomeni was to come up with key saves turning away the experienced Fairfield attack!

Fairfield continued to concentrate on the Lafayette stars of Leneke Spaans and Josephine van Wijk but Lafayette kept the Fairfield defense off balance, as Lafayette’s offense found open players. A shot by Catalina Rubel at 39:15 got blocked, but Malinowski alertly found the rebound and planted a nifty lift past the Stag goalkeeper tying the score at 2-2 going into the fourth period.

The fourth period has been a strong period for Lafayette all year and this was to be no exception. Having gotten 4 shots in the third, Lafayette looked to step it up….and they did in heroic fashion. At 56:55 Stella Malinowski was to complete her hat trick during a corner assisted by Katie Gibb. Lafayette 3 Fairfield 2!!

However the drama was not done. At 58:15 the Stags were awarded a corner. It seemed to be blocked, but the officials called a penalty stroke. The call was video reviewed but Raffi Fragomeni in the end, still face a point blank shot. The Lafayette goal keeper made a wonderful stick save. There was still one more save to be made at 59:28 leaving the score 3-2 in favor of the Leopards.

During the game, I counted at least 4 successful video challenges by the Leopards, proving the worth of the system. The League has notified its members that Boston University and Colgate will be installing video referral this season. No doubt the entire league will be on referral before long!!

The game was followed by an outstanding team tailgate at the shelter by the Kamine Field House hosted by the parents.

Lafayette’s third full time coach finally cleared hurdles to entry to the United States last night, and arrived in time to assist in the game. I will leave it to the staff and the school to divulge all his details this week.

The next game will be in DC against the American Eagles. They lost today to Cornell 1-2 in overtime. This will be another high stakes meeting with a Patriot League rival. American is also 1-0 in PL play having beaten Colgate on Friday.

Go Pards!!