The field hockey team split its pair of games this past weekend against Longwood University and William & Mary, with the latter ending its three-game win and shutout streak.
After trading intercepted passes with the Lancers (1-3 overall), the Leopards (3-1 overall) scored on their first penalty corner of the matchup just three minutes in from a push by freshman midfielder Rosalie van Gool, assisted by midfielders junior Stella Malinowski and freshman Linda Nova.
Just a few minutes later, Longwood had the chance to return with a penalty score of its own — twice, after a foul on the Maroon and White during the first attempt — but failed to find the net.
Lafayette kept its advantage with first-half goals from forwards freshman Lauren Kurek and junior Maddie Evans, sending the game to halftime 3-0.
Junior forward Lea Good notched two goals in the second half — with a score from Nova in between — bringing the final score to 6-0.
“I think we were just playing together,” Good said. “That’s what made us so successful on the scoreboard, but also being able to take that in the shots, and just being able to connect on the field, and just having fun playing next to each other.”
Good was awarded Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts last weekend.
She highlighted her team’s role in her award, saying that the group talked about playing as a team and how “everyone just contributed in so many different ways” this past weekend.
Otherwise, half of the goals in last Friday’s game were made by freshmen.
“They’re such great leaders, even for us upperclassmen,” Good said about the new members of the team. “They bring so much energy and they’re really influential players, too.”
Senior goalie Raffi Fragomeni called her defense — which shut out the Lancers — “phenomenal.”
“We defended really well higher in the field, especially with our pressing,” Fragomeni said. “We were able to win the ball higher up in the field, so we didn’t have to run it so low.”
The Leopards also had a whopping 26 fouls to Longwood’s 10.
“Fouling is a work-on for us going into the weekend,” Fragomeni said. “We definitely want to be cleaner with our defending, so we can win the ball and then just transition.”
Sunday was a different story for the Leopards, who fell 2-1 in a foulless affair against William & Mary (1-3 overall).
Both teams endured scoring droughts until the fourth quarter, when senior forward Catalina Rubel drew blood first with under seven minutes remaining.
A few minutes later, the Tribe answered to tie the score and eventually capitalized on a game-winning penalty corner in the last 30 seconds of the game.
“We had great chances, and I think we had great sequences that game,” Good said. “I just think defensively, we could have been a bit better.”
Fragomeni said she is “definitely cleaning up” on corner goals, since those were the two she gave up to the Tribe.
“We’re keeping moving forward from a loss against William & Mary and getting back to our shutouts and winning,” she said, calling the game a “huge learning experience.”
The Leopards will take on Temple University (3-1 overall) on Friday and Syracuse University on Sunday.
“Temple is always a great competition, it’s always a fun game to play,” Good said. “We’re ready to go.”
