Following last season’s Patriot League championship, the field hockey team got off to another strong start to the season, putting up two shutouts at home against Fairfield University on Aug. 29 and Drexel University on Sunday.
Last Friday’s contest saw the Leopards (2-0 overall) start slow, getting outshot 4-1 in the opening frame, but it was the one shot that counted for the Maroon and White. Senior midfielder Josephine Van Wijk found freshman midfielder Linda Nova for the first goal of her Leopard career and the first goal of the season for the team.
“We have a great new class, the freshman class, and they’re really holding their role,” sophomore midfielder Laila Paisic said. “We’re a brand new team, and it’s awesome.”
The Maroon and White poured it on with offensive aggression in the second quarter, tallying seven shots to the Stags’ three, with junior midfielder Stella Malinowksi converting on a penalty stroke to take a 2-0 lead.
“I’m really grateful that I was given the opportunity to take that stroke, and that our coaching staff and my teammates trusted me in finishing that,” Malinowski said.
Although the Leopards surrendered 10 more shot attempts to the Stags (0-2 overall) in the second half, senior goalkeeper Raffi Fragomeni stayed strong in goal, holding Fairfield scoreless to complete the 2-0 shutout.
“I think when you’re constantly talking to people around you, you feel like a cool togetherness,” Fragomeni said of the team’s defensive communication. “When you feel alone out there and it’s quiet, then the pressure starts to build up.”
Sunday’s contest against Drexel (1-1 overall) was a similar affair in sloppiness, surrendering shots and penalty corners, but the Leopards still scraped together a shutout victory. Lafayette only tallied six shots total, but that was all the team needed to score two goals.
The first goal came midway through the first quarter, after a back-and-forth series of penalty corners that saw senior defender Makenzie Switzer assist Paisic on the opening goal of the contest.
“It felt amazing,” Paisic said. “Getting the game moving, and the first goal bringing the momentum, I feel like we carried that out throughout the rest of the game.”
Drexel almost immediately responded, finding the back of the net off a penalty corner, but the Dragons’ attacker was outside the shooting circle, rendering the goal invalid. Soon after, Drexel drew a penalty stroke, placing Fragomeni in a 1-on-1 against a prospective Dragon goal-scorer, but Fragomeni secured another save en route to her eight on the contest.
“You just don’t think about it, you just go,” Fragomeni said. “These girls practice these every day, and they have their spots they pick. And sometimes you just gotta get lucky. Just gotta throw yourself at the ball.”
The Leopards only continued to mount the pressure, as following multiple deflections, Malinowski found freshman forward Lauren Kurek for the second goal of the afternoon and the first of Kurek’s Leopard career.
“It was a quick start, so I saw that I had that space to quickly take that free hit,” Malinowski said of the sequence. “I did a little shoulder check and I saw LK at that back post there, and I knew I just hit a hard crash ball in, and hopefully she can jump on it, and she did the rest.”
After struggling defensively through the first three quarters, the Maroon and White locked in to close the contest, giving up no shot attempts in the final frame to complete another 2-0 shutout and an undefeated start to the season. Fragomeni earned Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week for her 13 saves across the two contests.
“I think we’ve been playing a really strong defensive game, so I think just building off of that, two shutouts isn’t just me,” Fragomeni said. “I have really great defenders around me making goal-line saves and helping me get low-angle shots.”
Departing from Metzgar Field, the Leopards hit the road to take on Longwood University on Friday and William & Mary on Sunday.
“We don’t want to win games where we’re squeaking by, so I think building on that practice, especially on our attack,” Fragomeni said. “We have a lot to work on.”