For the sixth time in seven years, the AU Field Hockey team will be playing in the NCAA Tournament, after defeating Lock Haven University for the second consecutive time 2-1 in the play-in game on Tuesday afternoon at Jacobs Field.
Although the 0-0 score for the majority of the first half resembled the score from last year’s match, AU controlled the play and time of possession. The Eagles had seven shots in the period, with five penalty corners but was unable to capitalize on any of its chances because of the goaltending by LHU’s Erin Terreson, who made four saves.
With 34 seconds remaining in the half, AU’s Anne-Meike De Wiljes finally got a shot by Terreson. She converted on a penalty corner from point blank range with a hard shot to the right side giving AU a 1-0 advantage.
LHU had one shot on goal in the period and no penalty corners while the AU defense, led by De Wiljes, withstood every LHU attack and continuously sustained the pressure in opponents’ zone.
AU’s leading scorer, junior Christine Fingerhuth, added to her season totals with a goal 11 minutes into the second half. She swept her shot at the top of the circle past the LHU goalkeeper, for a 2-0 AU lead.
“I received the ball at the top of the top of the defense from Rachel Carney,” Fingerhuth said. “And I saw that I had space to pull right, so I pulled right, saw the space and tried to hit the far post and it worked out really well.”
Despite the early goal for AU, Lock Haven came out in the second period with renewed energy, engaging their offense more in the AU end. LHU managed the ball more than they had in the early stages of the game, earning a penalty corner and five shots. Less than five minutes after AU’s goal, LHU cut their deficit in half, scoring off a rebound at the right post.
“I thought about calling timeout — the tempo of the match had changed about 10 minutes before they scored, and I was very worried about that, but we got a goal in that period and I thought the pressure was really on them,” AU Coach Steve Jennings said. “I just kind of evaluated how we were handling that mentally and psychologically, and we looked like we were all right so I just let it roll and kept playing.”
The offense had more chances to add an insurance goal in the latter half of the game with two penalty corners, but one went wide of the net and the other was kicked aside by the Lock Haven keeper. For the remainder of the game, AU’s defense quieted the LHU offense, preventing them from getting any open looks in front of the net. LHU had eight shots in the contest, but only two on goal.
AU will square-off against undefeated University of Maryland in College Park on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. AU lost to Maryland 3-0 earlier in the season.
Regardless of the opponent, Jennings remains confident.
“At the end of the day, we have one of the best teams in the country, and I think we’ve shown that throughout the year,” Jennings said. “We’ve played some of the toughest teams right down to the wire, and so what we have to do is be able take care of the little extra things inside our own circle and the attacking circle to be able to get [the win].”
Since 2003 AU has never advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In that span they have also played UMD twice in tournament play, with two shutout losses. Last year’s squad lost to Wake Forest University in the first round of the tournament 7-1.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
