This past Friday, Sept. 15, the Elizabethtown College field hockey team (3-2, 1-0 LC) traveled to their first in-conference game of the season at Lycoming College (2-3, 0-1 LC). The Jays certainly showed up, with a shutout three-to-nil victory over the home side. Junior defender Megan Meyer opened the scoring near the end of the first quarter via an assist from sophomore defender Rachel Troutman, this being Meyer’s first career goal and Troutman’s first career assist.
The Jays’ success did not end here, however: sophomore forward Drew Bridges scored the first of her two goals in the second quarter, slotting it in cross-goal from the right side of the pitch into the left corner of the goal.
Etown’s domination of the first half wasn’t just in scoring; they didn’t allow Lycoming a single shot in the half and only conceded two corners compared to the six they had. Moving into the second half, Lycoming only managed to get off two shots versus Etown’s game total of thirteen, with eleven of those on target.
The third quarter had no goals from either team, however, just a minute into the fourth Bridges netted her second goal via a 1-on-1 breakaway. The Jays secured the clean sheet, possessing the ball for the remainder of the fourth quarter and not allowing any shots from Lycoming.
This game was a good rebound for the team, coming off a tough two-nil loss at Haverford. Hopefully, this dominant performance makes a reappearance as they continue the road this Wednesday at Wilson College (5-1) (Chambersburg, Pa.). While their away record isn’t extremely promising, things seem to be moving in a forward direction. Coming into the season with a new formation, the team is becoming more and more acclimated to their new shape and playing within it.
Their next few games will be challenging. The game against Wilson is on grass, a less common and unfamiliar surface for our Jays; however, first-year defender Lorna Oldt is optimistic: “We just have to stay connected in the back and finish our chances in front of the cage, then we should be set for a good performance Wednesday.”
While scoring can be a challenge for the team, it is not entirely elusive. The Jays have two 3-0 wins and one 2-1, three multi-goal games in total, with five different goal scorers in these games.
The Etown field hockey team’s season should be favorable, with playoffs run in their future. The more they play, the better they work as a team and within their shape, and the better results they’ll see on the pitch.
