The AU women’s field hockey team soared past Rutgers University and the University of New Hampshire over the weekend, picking up its first two wins of the season in College Park, Md. The team defeated the Rutgers’ Scarlet Knights 3-1 and the UNH Wildcats 5-2 at the Terrapin Invitational tournament.
Sound defense and aggressive on-the-ball pressure characterized the Eagle’s play in both matches, pulling AU’s overall record to 3-2 for the season.
Rutgers
The Eagles held on to an early lead against Rutgers on Saturday, starting the weekend off with a 3-1 win.
“We wanted to jump on them from the beginning and get on the attack and we were able to convert some of our early chances to get the early lead,” Head Coach Steve Jennings told AU Athletics.
Three AU athletes found the back of the cage before the half.
Less than three minutes into the first half, AU sophomore Gina Hoffman converted on a penalty corner play orchestrated by teammates Natalie Ellenberger and Kristin Gebhart. The goal gave AU an early 1-0 advantage in the match and was Hoffman’s second goal of the season.
AU struck again in the 12th minute of play, leaving Rutgers no time to regain their footing after Hoffman’s one-timer.
Senior Christine Fingerhuth took matters into her own hands to extend AU’s lead to 2-0. Fingerhuth stole the ball from Rutgers at midfield and drove into the circle, where she slipped by two defensemen and planted the ball in the top left corner of the cage.
The final goal of the half was also in AU’s favor. Eagle midfielder Natalie Ellenberger recorded her first goal of the season off a pass from Hoffman. Ellenberger situated herself to the left of the cage and was able to deflect a wide shot from Hoffman past the Scarlet Knight goalkeeper. The goal marked the end of a dominating half for the Eagles.
AU demonstrated sound defense throughout the second half. The Eagles held Rutgers to only one shot in the half, which connected with the back of the AU net to cut Rutgers’ deficit to 3-1.
The team’s corner margin in the match, 8-2, reflected much of the work the Eagles had put in during practice leading up to the invitational.
“We did a lot of work this week on [our corners] and I think the players got a sharper mindset,” Jennings told AU Athletics.
University of New Hampshire
AU carried over its momentum from Saturday’s game into Sunday to win 5-1 against the New Hampshire Wildcats. The Eagles saw increased offensive pressure in Sunday’s match, but AU goalkeeper, senior Hannah Weitzman, knocked down the Wildcat’s with four saves.
The Eagles were again successful early in the match. Junior Melissa Casale opened the floodgates in the eighth minute of play when she deflected a pass from teammate Anne Van Erp into the right corner of the cage.
New Hampshire responded immediately with a goal of its own 43 seconds later to tie the match at 1-1.
The scoring frenzy died down for a short period as the two teams continued to battle.
AU came out on top 10 minutes before the end of the half when senior Kristin Gebhart connected with the back of the cage, lifting the score to 2-1. Gebhart recorded her first goal of the year from the center of the circle, rocketing the ball into the cage off a penalty corner inserted by Natalie Ellenberger.
Despite outshooting the Eagles 7-4 in the half, the Wildcats entered the intermission with a 1-goal deficit.
Eagle play in the second half was a return to the aggressive defensive pressure the team exhibited on Saturday. AU held the Wildcats to two penalty corners and three shots on game in the final 35 minutes of play.
With the Wildcat’s tamed, the Eagles further flooded the scoreboard, knocking down three goals in 4 minutes and 43 seconds.
Freshman Constanza Palma started the rampage, converting AU’s second penalty corner of the match. One minute and 14 seconds later, Lotte van de Mierop deflected a pass from freshman Alex McMackin into the Wildcat’s cage to bring the score to 4-1. Jaclyn Anspach picked up the Eagle’s final goal of the game shortly after, slapping a pass from Christine Fingerhuth past the New Hampshire goalie.
The Wildcats tried to crawl their way back into the game with a goal late in the second half, cutting their deficit to 5-2.The weekend’s victories reflect the hard work AU has put into practice since early losses this season.
“It was nice to get two wins this weekend and see the application of themes from our past week of training,” Jennings said.
AU field hockey hopes to continue its two game winning streak this weekend, with two games at Jacobs Field. The Eagles will play host to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Saturday, Sept 18 at noon, followed by a match against James Madison University on Sunday at 2 p.m.
kgreubel@theeagleonline.com
