On a chilly Sunday afternoon, the AU field hockey team easily defeated the Lehigh Mountain Hawks by a score of 8-1 at Jacobs Field, to clinch the team’s seventh straight Patriot League Regular Season Championship.
The Senior Day win improved the Eagles overall record to (9-8; 4-1 PL) and clinched AU a spot in the postseason. As for the game, the most notable statistic was AU’s 23 shots and eight goals compared to Lehigh’s five shots and one goal.
Both teams came out of the gates aggressively in the first half. AU and Lehigh penetrated each other’s defense to try and put their team up first. In the third minute, Lehigh’s Morgan Christopher scored off a rebound making the score 1-0 in favor of the Mountain Hawks.
The Eagles answered right back nine minutes later, with a goal deflected into the cage by AU sophomore Melissa Casale. AU junior Christine Fingerhuth gave the Eagles the lead in the 27th minute, spinning around a defender and shooting the ball toward the right post for the goal.
In the final seconds of the half, AU was awarded a penalty shot from out of bounds, which Melissa Casale capitalized on to score her second goal of the game, putting the Eagles up 3-1.
The momentum carried on for the Eagles into the second half, as they held the Mountain Hawks without a shot for more than 15 minutes. As for their offense, the Eagles continued to apply pressure with consistent attacks. In the 38th minute, the Eagles increased the lead to 4-1, when AU senior Savannah Graybill scored at the left post off teammate Anne Van Erp’s shot. AU would score four goals in five minutes to increase the lead to 8-1.
AU’s defense was as important to the win as the offense, as they held the Hawkeyes to only two second-half shots. The victory earned AU home-field advantage for next Friday’s Patriot League tournament.
“This victory was satisfying,” Associate Head Coach Sarah Thorn Krombolz said after the game. “Anytime you score eight goals, you have to give credit to the offense, but the defense did a good job of intercepting and preventing Lehigh from having continual attacking opportunities.”
AU’s Melissa Casale, who had a hat trick, said, “After losing last week, it felt really good to come back.”
Now that the season has ended, the Eagles will host the Patriot League conference tournament at Jacobs field next Saturday. Fortunately, the Eagles will face Lehigh, which after today, seems to be to AU’s advantage. Game time will be announced later this week.
You can reach this staff writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
