On Nov. 1, the four seed Blue Jays women’s soccer team hosted the five seed River Hawks in the first round of the Landmark Conference Playoffs. The game was a thrilling overtime spectacle for both teams.
The Blue Jays began the game with an intense offense and a strong defense, getting four shots off within the first twelve minutes of play with two going wide and two being saved by the River Hawks sophomore goalkeeper Katie Henchy, while also clearing most of Susquehanna’s approaches.
Despite Elizabethtown’s aggressive offense, Susquehanna’s defense held firm and never let the Blue Jays capitalize. The River Hawks consistently managed to keep the ball from going in their net with an “all hands on deck” defense, heavily contesting every approach from the Blue Jays.
Etown’s aggression in the first half gave them momentum, but it still resulted in a score of 0-0 after the first 45 minutes.
The second half saw both teams become more physical, with both teams receiving five fouls. However, the result would still be a 0-0 score, as neither team could capitalize from the free kicks or offensive approaches they had and the goal attempts once again would go wide, or the goalkeeper would make the save.
Since this was a playoff game, there needed to be a winner, so a 0-0 score meant that the game was headed into overtime.
The first overtime period was another defensive and goaltending spectacle from
Etown, as Susquehanna became far more aggressive on their offense. The River Hawks managed to flip the script and maintain possession of the ball and get four shots on goal. Sophomore Ella Smith, the goalkeeper for the Blue Jays, kept the team in it with two remarkable saves within the first three minutes of overtime, one of which she barely got onto her glove with an incredible dive to her left.
The second overtime began slowly, with both teams having expended a lot of energy in the already long game. Although with a minute to go, Susquehanna managed to get control of the ball and came close to scoring the game winner. Then, sophomore defender Sky Shinnen of Etown cleared the ball to force a throw-in, allowing first-year midfielder Meghan McGonagle to clear it, providing first-year midfielder Lexi Kurzawa a chance to shoot the ball at the last possible second, but it narrowly missed to the right. They then went to penalties.
Senior Morgan Stickley shot and scored the first goal for the River Hawks, barely getting past the glove of Smith, but Etown responded with their own score with their first penalty taker, junior defender Sara Bean. The River Hawks proceeded to score again, and Etown’s sophomore defender Ella Fasnacht also got through to keep it even. However, the River Hawks made their next two shots, and Etown missed their final two, giving Susquehanna the win with a shootout score of 4-2.
Etown’s season ends with a tough loss to Susquehanna. The River Hawks will now face Scranton on Nov. 5.
