Elizabethtown College field hockey lost to the Messiah College Falcons in the Commonwealth Conference Championship Nov. 4. Despite the loss, the 2012 season was one of the most successful in the program’s history, and senior Nadine Yunginger was named the program’s first ever Player of the Year.
The Blue Jays started their playoff journey with a spectacular 2-1 win over Lebanon Valley College. After losing to LVC in the regular season, Etown put together a full team effort to defeat the Dutchmen. Seniors Emily Butler and Casey Fletcher scored in the win, and senior goalie Lindy Hamp had a big day with 11 saves.
“I think that in our loss to LVC, we sat back after we got ahead instead of continuing to score and stay aggressive,” sophomore Taylor Alwine said before the game. “I think next week we will definitely play with more intensity the entire game.” Hamp agreed, stating, “We have plenty of skills to beat them, so it’s just a matter of coming out and playing hard.”
Etown then hit the road to Messiah for the championship game. The game started well, with first-year Jacki Hikes scoring the first goal a little over a minute after starting. However, Messiah responded with three goals in the first half and one more in the second half to grab the title, 4-1.
In the Blue Jays’ last regular season game, they were shut out by the No. 2 ranked Salisbury University.
An early lead gave the Gulls an edge that carried them throughout the rest of the game. Salisbury’s Erica Henderson scored only 1:40 into the game off a rebound.
First-year Lisa Foose gave Etown their first attempt at an equalizing goal, and Hikes made another close attempt before the half was over.
During the second half, the Blue Jays attempted four shots on goal thanks to three corners received within six minutes. Fletcher, Yunginger and Hikes set up the plays for the corners. Sophomore Emily Mason took two shots from those three corners, and Alwine took the remaining shot. Gull goalie Rachel Clewer blocked all three.
Gulls player Henderson shot a second time with six minutes remaining in the second half. With three minutes left in the game, two Gull players received penalty cards but it was too late in the game for the Blue Jays to make a comeback.
The Blue Jays faced one of their toughest seasons to date this year, facing five nationally-ranked teams. “A lot of people didn’t expect us to do as well as we have done so far,” Alwine said. “But I think that we all felt since the beginning of our season that we have a great group of players that work extremely well together. So we all knew that we could compete with any team we played.”
The Blue Jays exceeded Hamp’s expectations as well. “We have worked so hard and everyone is dedicated to going all the way,” Hamp said.
Yunginger was named Player of the Year largely due to her stats in the assist category. Holding a new school record for single season and career assists, Yunginger also led the conference in assists.
Alwine was recognized after this season and was selected to the All-Conference First Team. Senior Samantha Earle, a key leader for the Blue Jays on the defensive end, received an Honorable Mention selection. Earle assisted Hamp in protecting the goal, leading the team with five defensive saves.