Lafayette field hockey (7-11 overall, 3-3 Patriot League) concluded its season with a 1-0 victory last Saturday in Worcester, Mass. against Patriot League opponent Holy Cross (7-10, 2-4).
Missing postseason qualification, the Leopards knew before first whistle that the Crusaders would be their last opponent of the 2022 season.
The first quarter was uneventful. Freshman midfielder Aimee Hoefnagel took a shot early in the match but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Lafayette dominated on the attacking end. Sophomore midfielder India Ralph earned two penalty corners, junior midfielder Ariel Schumacher and senior forward Felicitas Hannes took a shot each, and freshman midfielder Josephine van Wijk added two attempts of her own.
After an adjustment at half time, the Leopards put more pressure on the Crusaders. Head Coach Jenifer Stone urged the team to make better passes and increase the ball speed, Hannes said.
Not long thereafter, at 30:51, van Wijk scored the sole tally of the game, and her third goal of the season.
“[Sophomore midfielder] Laine [Delmotte] gave a good ball to me … and then I saw that I had space. Defenders were on me but I still had enough space, so I thought I’ll just shoot right away and it went in,” van Wijk said.
Van Wijk’s performance earned her Patriot League Rookie of the week.
The Maroon and White took 17 offensive opportunities, six of which were on target, during Saturday’s game. The Leopards also earned nine corner shots, none of which went in their favor.
“We should’ve come up with a few more goals, but we’re happy with a win regardless,” Hannes said.
“[Saturday was] definitely a pretty fun game and important to get a win to project the program for the future [to show that we can] get a better outcome towards the end of the season” she added.
Freshman goalkeeper Raffi Fragomeni was uncontested for the entire match, facing three shots, none on which were on target.
Despite the undesirable outcome to the season, the Leopards had some stand out stars.
Hefting was named to the All-League First team with Spaans and to the Academic All-Patriot League with Hannes. Hefting also received Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and earned spots in the Preseason All-Patriot League plus NFHCA Senior Team Roster. Senior forward Molly McAndrew was named to the All-League Second Team.
