The field hockey team (4-1 Patriot League, 11-6 overall) put together a statement weekend, securing back-to-back shutout victories against Boston University (3-3 Patriot League, 6-9 overall) in its homecoming game on Oct. 25 and Towson University (6-11 overall) on Oct. 27.
The dominant performances made it three straight wins for the Maroon and White and, against Boston, earned head coach Jennifer Stone her 100th career victory.
The Leopards opened the weekend in style with a 5-0 route of Boston at Rappolt Field, with five different goal scorers powering the Leopards’ offense.
After a quiet first period, junior midfielder Josephine van Wijk started the scoring in the second quarter with a penalty corner goal in the 23rd minute. Senior midfielder Lineke Spaans doubled the lead in the third period, intercepting a Terrier defender’s pass and slipping the ball past the goalkeeper.
“I think everyone was very excited, every Patriot League game is a big game,” senior forward Alex Darrah said. “As we get closer to the tournament, we need wins to get higher in the seeding. We had a lot of energy and support from one another.”
The Leopards overwhelmed Boston in the fourth quarter, taking 10 shots in the final frame compared to the Terriers’ goose egg. Senior defender India Ralph made it 3-0 early in the period with a perfectly timed tip-in. Shortly after, Darrah tallied her seventh goal of the season with a beautiful reverse shot from the air, bringing the score to 4-0.
“I was expecting it to be on the ground, but when I saw it go in the air, I went for it and got a clip on it,” Darrah said. “It was definitely the most exciting goal of my career.”
“Alex’s goal was insane,” Ralph said. “Top 10 goals of all time.”
Sophomore midfielder Stella Malinowski completed the offensive surge with the fifth and final goal of the outing.
The Leopards dominated the stat sheet, holding the edge in shots (22-6) and penalty corners (8-5). Junior goalkeeper Raffi Fragomeni recorded five saves to secure the shutout.
Two days later, the Leopards traveled to Towson, Maryland, and continued their winning ways with a 4-0 victory.
Spaans wasted no time for the Maroon and White, opening the scoring just under two minutes into the contest off an assist from Hall. She doubled her tally in the second quarter after a nice combination play with Darrah at the top of the circle, giving the Leopards a comfortable 2-0 lead and Spaans her 10th goal of the season.
Freshman midfielder Laila Pasic scored her first career goal midway through the second period, extending the margin to 3-0 before halftime. Sophomore forward Maddie Evans capped off the win with a deflection from an Alex Darrah cross to open the fourth period.
The Leopards once again stuffed the stats, leading in shots (17-3) and penalty corners (11-2). Fragomeni made two saves for her seventh shutout of the season.
“We didn’t perform as well as we would have liked in our previous out-of-conference game, but Sunday, we ended out of conference on a really high note with a 4-0 win and it was good field hockey across the board,” Spaans said.
In addition to racking up team wins, three players were recognized for the Patriot League weekly awards, with Spaans earning Offensive Player of the Week, Ralph earning Defensive Player of the Week, and Fragomeni earning Goalkeeper of the Week.
The Maroon and White close out their regular season on Nov. 2 at 12 p.m. in an away game against Patriot League opponent Colgate University (1-4 Patriot League, 4-12 overall), with hopes of taking the top spot in the Patriot League standings.
“We obviously have to win to put ourselves in a good position to potentially host the tournament,” Ralph said.