The field hockey team (2-1 Patriot League, 7-4 overall) secured back-to-back wins last weekend, earning a 2-0 shutout victory at Bucknell University (2-1 Patriot League, 5-6 overall) on Friday, then gutting out a 2-1 non-conference win against Providence College (5-7 overall) at home on Sunday.
Coming off two straight losses, the Leopards were looking to get their season back on track this weekend, starting against Patriot League opponent Bucknell on Friday night.
After a scoreless first half, sophomore defender Katie Gibb scored for the Maroon and White off a penalty corner with under three minutes to play in the quarter. Gibb cleaned up the goal after two shots from sophomore defender Lena Thedrian and junior midfielder Josephine van Wijk were deflected.
Despite leading the Leopards in shots and shots on goal, van Wijk has yet to tally a goal this season.
“I have to get a little bit quicker in the circle, a little bit relaxed for big changes to come,” van Wijk said.
“I’m confident that they will grow,” she added about her goal numbers.
Senior forward Alex Darrah added an insurance goal for the Leopards in the fourth quarter off a reset from another penalty corner. Despite a few Bucknell penalty corner-scoring opportunities in the closing minutes, the Maroon and White held on for the shutout.
The Leopards returned home to Rappolt Field on Sunday afternoon to face out-of-conference opponent Providence.
The Maroon and White controlled the momentum in the first half, forcing eight saves from the Providence goalkeeper and rarely allowing the Friars opportunities to go on the attack.
“Defense is the best attack,” Darrah said. “Being able to press hard and press heavy, and then come up with good balls and automatically threaten forward, is something that we’ve been working on and something that really works for our team.”
Darrah scored the first goal for the Leopards just six minutes into the game off a rebounded save from the Providence goalkeeper. This marked her second goal of the weekend and fifth overall for the season.
Just over a minute later, the Maroon and White earned a penalty stroke, but Thedrian’s shot was blocked.
Despite earning seven penalty corners throughout the game, the Leopards could not find the back of the cage on one of them.
“Every person plays a very crucial part in those,” Darrah said about the penalty corners. “We’re putting in the extra time every week at training and really focusing on that to improve it and hopefully get more outcomes the rest of the season.”
The Leopards continued to dominate possession in the second quarter, outshooting Providence 5-0, with four shots on goal.
Senior forward Lineke Spaans scored the Leopards’ second goal with 7:40 remaining in the quarter after controlling the ball at the top of the shooting circle and slotting it in the upper left corner of the cage.
Providence came out firing in the third quarter, putting more pressure on the Leopards’ defense. The Friars capitalized on a defensive mistake with just under four minutes remaining in the quarter, cutting the deficit to one and putting the Maroon and White on their heels.
The two teams went back and forth throughout the fourth quarter, but apart from a save from junior goalkeeper Raffi Fragomeni off a Providence penalty corner, neither team had any open chances to score, allowing the Leopards to eke out the win.
“It was definitely a little difficult and stressful towards the end, but I think having confidence in our ability to seal the deal and come out with a win helped us push through,” Darrah said.
Fragomeni and Gibbs earned Patriot League weekly honors for Goalkeeper of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively.
The Maroon and White will face rival Lehigh University (1-1 Patriot League, 6-4 overall) this Friday at home at 6 p.m. and host out-of-conference opponent University of Massachusetts (9-3 overall) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Van Wijk noted that the team focuses more on its process in mid-season out-of-conference games.
“Obviously, we want to go to the championship,” van Wijk said. “We want to win the game, but right now, it’s just game for game, getting better week by week, and then we think the results will follow.”
Correction 10/11/24: A previous version of this article referred to a penalty stroke as a penalty kick.
