The American University Eagles field hockey team (6-5) beat conference rival Bucknell (5-8) 2-1 in a penalty shootout Oct. 7.
On a cold and wet morning, the Eagles were eager to bounce back from their loss the previous week against the University of Delaware. This reflected in their dominant play during the first quarter. The Eagles maintained possession for the majority of the quarter and attacked aggressively, but Bucknell’s goalkeeper Sarah Althouse did not allow a single shot to get past her.
Going into the second quarter, the game remained scoreless, but the Eagles maintained control.
Such was the case until sophomore midfielder Agustina Roffo received a yellow card, giving the Bison a player advantage. With three minutes before halftime, Bucknell got a penalty corner. Bucknell defender Kira Leclercq then blasted a shot from the top of the arch to give the Bison a 1-0 lead going into halftime. Despite being down a goal, the energy at Jacobs Field remained high, as the Eagles were the more dominant team with seven shots, compared to the Bison’s three.
As the third quarter started, the Eagles continued to control the pace of the game. However, even with two penalty corners and four shots, the Eagles couldn’t break through the Bison defense. At the end of the quarter, the score remained 1-0.
Before the start of the fourth quarter, the sun began to peek through the clouds and fans gathered at the bleachers, eager to see if the Eagles would come back. The Eagles remained the more dominant offensive team as the Bison had zero shots on goal in the fourth quarter.
As time was running out, fans became frustrated as the Eagles controlled the game but could not score. With 32 seconds left in regulation, the Eagles received a penalty corner; this was a make or break moment for them. As graduate student forward Megan Hoffman prepared to score, fans from both sides stood from their seats in suspense. Hoffman passed the ball, finding freshman forward Emilia Winkler, who slammed the ball into the goal, forcing overtime.
Going into overtime, the Eagles now faced a seven-on-seven player situation, allowing them more space for passing and breakaways.
At the start of overtime, the crowd was louder than ever before. The Eagles continued to dominate with junior midfielder Federica Turina Dellamaggiore leading the charge with four shots on goal and allowing the Bison zero. Despite hounding the goal, the score remained 1-1. resulting in another period of overtime.
Both teams went back and forth, but neither could score, resulting in a shootout. With 80 minutes of play leading up to this point, the fans were very invested in the game and the energy could be felt throughout Jacobs.
Both teams missed their first two attempts at shots until the Bison made their third. From there, both teams made their next attempts, making the score of the shootout 2-2. With the game on the line, senior goalkeeper Bryn Underwood blocked the Bison’s last chance to score, giving the Eagles the opportunity to win the game. Roffo successfully delivered her attempt, securing the win for the Eagles.
“We need to execute on our scoring chances. I think the way we are playing overall and the control we’re generating in games is huge,” head coach Steve Jennings said. “The more we can finetune some of those pieces in the attacking circle the better off it’s going to be for us.”
Underwood emphasized the necessity for her team to follow through in overtime, “Every game we played that we lost has been overtime, has been the last minutes of the game, so it’s really important for us that we continue to win the games that matter the most which are the Patriot League.”
The Eagles face off against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in Pennsylvania on Oct. 13th.
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Isabelle Kravis and Olivia Citarella.
