The Elizabethtown College women’s field hockey team lost its first three games against Franklin & Marshall College, Messiah College and Muhlenberg University in the opening weeks of the Fall 2014 season.
The Jays hosted No. 8 Franklin and Marshall for the opening game August 29, but could not score a goal against the Diplomats, losing 0-1. Although the Jays lost, senior goalkeeper Selene Jones contributed seven saves. Both teams were unable to score in the first half, but Franklin & Marshall came up big in the second half when a player redirected a shot to send it past Jones and into the goal. Overall, the Jays had six penalty corners, while Franklin and Marshall had a total of 13. Three of the Jays’ penalty corners occurred within the final five minutes of the game.
On Sept. 3, the Jays faced No. 12 Messiah on Falcon grounds. The teams were tied going into the second half, but a goal from Messiah gave them a 3-2 lead, which would give them the win. Senior Andrea Keady struck first for Etown off a pass from first-year Emma Christman. This goal was followed by two goals from Messiah. Then, Christman answered with her first career goal, tying the score at 2-2 going into the second half. Holt’s goal came within the last ten minutes, and junior Alyssa Aichele’s shot on goal for Etown, taken with 3:39 left, was blocked by Messiah’s goalie, sealing the win for the Falcons. Jones posted three saves for the Jays and the team had four shots for the game.
“The outcomes were not what we would have liked, but we still played with a great amount of intensity and played hard the entire game. We never gave up,” Aichele said about the first two game of the season.
Etown hit the road again on Saturday, Sept. 6 to Muhlenberg University. The Jays lost another game by one, with a score of 0-1. The Jays outscored the Mules and had more penalty corners, but could not manage to score. Etown had four shots in the first half before Muhlenberg could even get a shot off. That changed when Muhlenberg got off a shot 14:25 into the game. At the half, Etown had seven shots, while the Mules had four. The Jays had shots from junior Jacki Hikes, sophomore Nicole Leaf, junior Lisa Foose, senior Kaylee Werner, Keady and Aichele. Foose and Aichele both had shots within six seconds of each other, but the Mules’ goalie stopped both, and the opposing team was able to score shortly after. Although Etown outshot Muhlenberg, they had no shots on goal in the final ten minutes of the game, resulting in a Blue Jay defeat.
The Jays grabbed their first win against Delaware Valley College with a 3-0 shutout. Aichele, Christman and senior Emily Mason each contributed a goal, while Jones had six saves to make the game a shutout.
The 2014 team returns to the season only having lost two senior players from the previous year. “That alone puts our team ahead of the game because we have all already been playing together and know what each other are capable of,” Aichele said. “We already have so much trust in each other,” Aichele said. The team will host Ursinus College on Saturday, Sept. 13, at Wolf Field.
