Saturday, Oct. 28 on Elizabethtown College’s Wolf Field, the Juniata College Eagles outscored the Blue Jays field hockey team in a shootout. Etown’s senior day was tarnished by the 4-3 loss, bringing their record to 8-9.
The Landmark Conference game began in favor of the Blue Jays, with seniors Emma Christman and Megan Eppley taking five shots within the first eight minutes. Sophomore Olivia Beachley took four penalty corners within the same time, connecting with Christman 7:30 into the game for the first goal of the match and her 12th of the season.
Junior Hannah Mack started in goal and stopped a shot by Juniata sophomore Catherine Lanigan. At 14:28, Christman added another point to the scoreboard, bringing her record up to 13. The next chance for the Blue Jays came at 22:05 with a shot by junior Maggie Fees off another of Beachley’s penalty corners. Unfortunately, the attempt was blocked. The first period ended after one more corner from Beachley and two saves by Mack.
The Eagles came out with a renewed energy the second period and scored within four minutes. Juniata junior Lindsay Scholten gained her second goal of the season, with an assist from senior Katie Alexander at 38:32.
Junior Margo Donlin defended the goal and stopped another shot by Lanigan, before giving up a point to Juniata sophomore Grace Kuszmual off a penalty stroke at 44:02. The Eagles brought the score to two for both teams, but not for long.
At 45:22, first-year Emily Garvin passed the ball to Christman for another goal, giving the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead.
“[The team] will really miss [Christman] next season on our forward line,” Fees said.
Unfortunately, Lanigan scored with an assist from Alexander at 49:06, tying the game once more. The match remained scoreless for the rest of the period, even with seven shots from the Blue Jays.
The third period was uneventful for Etown, although Donlin had three saves. This brought the contest to the fourth period. Fees had a promising attempt at 93:58, but Juniata junior Kylie Edwards stopped the shot. At 95:44, Kuszmaul was given a green card. At the end of the 100 minutes, a shootout was necessary, as this was a Landmark Conference match.
Juniata began the back-and-forth for victory, missing their first two shots. Kuszmaul made the third shot, putting pressure on Beachley. Etown missed their first three shots, but Beachley pulled through and made her attempt. The Eagles were unsuccessful on their fourth try, but sophomore Mina Wilt scored on the final shot. Eppley took the final attempt for the Blue Jays and was denied by Edwards.
While it was a difficult loss, Fees said she was proud of the team.
“Everyone that stepped onto the field gave everything they had and I am proud of how hard we played together,” she said.
Wednesday, Nov. 1, the team fell 3-0 to Catholic University in their semifinal game, finishing their season 8-10 (4-3 Landmark).
