After a huge victory against the sixth seed Lycoming College, the Elizabethtown Blue Jay field hockey team took their talents on the road to face off against the two seeded Susquehanna University River Hawks in the Landmark Conference Championship semifinals.
The Blue Jays headed into the contest with six straight victories, putting on a Cinderella run from the ninth seed to the third seed through the final five games of the season. Etown had defeated the Warriors in a sound 5-1 victory at home heading into the contest, fueled with the momentum they brought from the regular season. The River Hawks headed into their first Landmark playoff game after taking a bye from the first round due to their placement in the standings after finishing the season 12-7.
Through the first quarter of action, both teams were neck and neck. Only two shots were taken the entire 15 minutes of play, both by Susquehanna. Etown tried to strike first as the River Hawks conceded two penalty corners in the first minute, however, the Susquehanna defense held strong, fending off the attacks by the Blue Jay offense.
The second quarter wasn’t much different as the only difference being green cards awarded to first-year forward Sara Watson and another awarded to Susquehanna as a team. Etown and the River Hawks split the two shots in the quarter as sophomore midfielder Hailey Meyer put the first shot on net for the Blue Jays. Heading into the halftime break, both teams were deadlocked at 0-0, awaiting the goal that would break the game open heading into the final half-hour of action.
The second half started off very differently for Etown, unleashing a fury of shots reminding fans of how they were able to achieve their success over the past few months. Senior forward Drew Bridges poured on the shots for the Blue Jays, attempting to put her first three shots on goal, however, one went wide and the other two were blocked by either a defender or the River Hawks goalkeeper.
Bridges’s fourth shot of the quarter was able to break the tie between the two sides, as the pass from junior midfielder Hannah Long set up Bridges to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead and cement herself in history as Bridges achieved 100 career points, which only 10 other players have done in Etown’s history.
Susquehanna was able to rally early in the fourth quarter, as first-year forward Haley Dreisbach scored the tying goal for the River Hawks within the first four minutes. After a flurry of fouls by the Blue Jays, sophomore forward Jada Thompson scored the second goal for Susquehanna in ten minutes, eliminating the Blue Jays from Landmark Championship contention and securing a 2-1 victory for the River Hawks.
Bridges led the team with the sole goal in the loss on four shots with first-year midfielder Sophie Myers having two shots on goal. Long had the assist on the goal and also contributed one shot. First-year goalkeeper Emma Dupes made two saves and allowed two goals in the loss. Etown’s valiant run will be highly coveted by the college for their historic season, especially as the first of possibly many playoff appearances by Coach Grace Hardy and the young Blue Jay roster.
Etown will play their next field hockey game next season in the fall at a date and time that will be determined at a later date.
