Off to its best start in program history, the AU field hockey team extended its unbeaten streak to eight games after a dominating 6-1 win over Longwood Sunday at Jacobs Field.
The No. 4 Eagles (8-0), behind the three-goal effort of sophomore attacker Maggie Hall, wasted no time getting on the board as Hall took advantage of a breakaway in the eighth minute. Junior attacker Heidi Hershberger slipped past the Lancer defense and found a wide-open Hall for the early score.
Seven minutes later the Eagles struck again when senior midfielder Shannon Goans registered her first goal of the season off a feed from freshman attacker Irene Shickhardt for the 2-0 lead.
Hall continued her scoring spree at 17:45 when she converted a free shot from senior defender Maureen Daniel to give AU a 3-0 edge.
Then, senior all-American Javiera Villagra joined in by notching her fifth goal of the season on a bullet from 10 yards to secure a 4-0 lead going into halftime.
Defensively, AU allowed zero shots for Longwood in the first half despite missing one of its best defenders, sophomore Denise Infante, for the second straight game. Offensively, AU fired 13 shots while lacking its leading scorer - and Denise's sister - junior midfielder Camila Infante. Both are competing in the Junior World Cup in Chile.
For AU coach Steve Jennings, the performance was reassuring, but not surprising.
"I think we were really effective today because we were used to playing with who we have," Jennings said. "It's much more about who we have than who we don't have."
Beginning the second half, Longwood's Sarah Hitchings denied sophomore Eagle goalkeeper Makinsie Sheridan's shutout bid. In the 38th minute, she capitalized on a rare Lancer penalty corner to get her side within three goals.
But AU responded fewer than 10 minutes later when Villagra netted her second goal of the day on a blast from the center of the circle for a 5-1 lead. It was Villagra's fifth goal of the season and her 10th point.
At 66:40, Hall capped the scoring barrage on a penalty corner set up by Villagra and senior midfielder Heather Maranzano. Hall's hat trick brought her season point total to 10.
While victory was little challenge for the Eagles, AU could take solace in their intensity level, which was drastically raised from a week ago.
"I think that our goal is to keep our level of play consistent so that no matter who we're playing, at a low level or a high level, we just play our game," said senior defender Caroline Vo. "We're trying not to worry too much about our opponent. We're trying to focus more on ourselves and what we have to offer."
The win bettered AU's all-time record against Longwood to 4-1-0. With the loss, the Lancers dropped to 2-6-0 this season.
