The Elizabethtown College field hockey team took their talents to their home turf to face off in a first round Landmark Conference playoff matchup against Drew University. The last time these two teams faced off, Etown got the best of Drew and defeated them 4-2 on the road only two weeks prior to the playoff game.
The Blue Jays finished off their regular season with a five game win streak, giving them enough momentum to place themselves fourth in the Landmark Conference standings. The Rangers struggled toward the end of the season, losing four of their last five games; however, they hoped to change the run with a fresh start in the playoffs.
Etown started off the first quarter with a bang. In the first four minutes of the game, a penalty corner was given to the Blue Jays, where it bounced around inside the shooting circle after a few deflections. The ball dropped to junior midfielder Hannah Long, who buried the shot into the back of the net, giving Etown an early 1-0 lead.
The rest of the first quarter and the majority of the second quarter came without excitement. The Rangers struggled to form an attack in the offensive end, with only one shot in total in the half. Etown’s defense did a great job of containing Drew’s attack efforts, turning a lot of those chances into instant offense.
Near the closing stages of the first half, junior forward Hailey Meyer was able to make an interception in their attacking third, catching the Rangers defense off guard. Meyer sent a through pass to the running first-year forward Carly Schumacher, who pocketed the ball into the goal to give Etown a two goal lead at the half.
Schumacher wasn’t done yet after the halftime break, scoring six minutes into the second half to give her a brace and Etown a 3-0 lead. Drew couldn’t contain the pressure, with sophomore midfielder Calleigh Hoy sending another pass through to Schumacher, who scored her third goal of the game, securing the hat trick. The third goal marked Schumacher’s first hat trick of her career at Etown, doing so in only 12 minutes of in-match time elapsing.
Despite two goals already in the quarter, first-year forward Ava Wolfe added onto the lead by picking up her first career playoff goal off a first career playoff assist from Schumacher. Etown scored their three goals in the third on only five shots, showing high attacking efficiency by the Blue Jays and cementing a 5-0 lead at the end of three quarters.
Etown wasn’t done yet in the fourth, with Meyer picking up her first goal of the game off a pass from Long to continue their offensive onslaught. Drew couldn’t perform any more damage control through the quarter as Long broke free through the Ranger defense for her second goal of the game. Sophomore midfielder Kaylie Noel decided to add in on the fun, scoring her first goal of the game and the second of the season to secure the 8-0 win for the Blue Jays.
Schumacher led the game for Etown with three goals and one assist, followed by Long with two goals and an assist. Meyer added a goal and an assist in the win while Wolfe and Noel had a goal each. Etown’s defense gave senior goalkeeper Lily Deblasio an easy day between the sticks, with only two shots throughout the entire 60 minutes of play, with none being on goal. In comparison, Etown put together 31 shots in total, with 22 of those shots being on goal.
Etown will play Tuesday night on Nov. 3 on the road at Scranton University to face off against the No. 1 seeded Scranton Royals. If Etown wins, they will face off at the highest remaining seed’s site, which will be either on the road against No. 2 Catholic University or at home against No. 6 Susquehanna University on Nov. 7.
