Waiting is not a fun game.
For a very slow three minutes, Kiley Gallagher’s overtime goal against Bucknell University was under review.
“I was just praying,” the sophomore midfielder said. “I kept asking, ‘It’s gonna be a goal, right?’”
Halfway through overtime, Gallagher’s tip towards the goal went wide but was recovered by the Leopards. The ball was sent back around to junior defender Lena Thedrian, who pushed towards the baseline and passed towards the middle, trying to get to sophomore forward Laila Pasic.
The ball bounced back to Thedrian, who flicked it up into the air, finally finding a wide-open Gallagher in front of the goal to bat it in.
“I was like, alright, I guess I should score now,” she said. “I’m wide open — this is gonna be embarrassing if I miss it.”
Bucknell asked for the play to be reviewed for a foul. When the referees finally stepped out onto the field to make the call, the Leopards looked on in anticipation from their huddle.
With the blow of the whistle, the goal was called. The team erupted.
The field hockey team (2-0 Patriot League, 7-3 overall) kept its win streak going this past weekend with a 2-1 overtime nailbiter against Bucknell University on Friday and a 5-0 blowout versus Dartmouth College for Senior Day on Sunday.
Matchups against the Bison (1-1 Patriot League, 4-5 overall) have been historically close for the Maroon and White.
“Coming into it, we just really want to focus on what we can do to control ourselves and get to our best play,” junior defender Katie Gibb said. “When we’re playing all together and really focus on ourselves, we do really well.”
The game remained scoreless until 20 minutes in, when Bucknell took advantage of a penalty corner to go up 1-0. Lafayette had a chance to tie with a penalty corner of its own going into halftime, but the chance was stopped.
The second half would have passed scoreless, too, if not for a penalty corner attempt by the Leopards with six minutes remaining and a loss impending.
Gibb inserted the ball to Thedrian to rocket off a shot. The inserter remained in the right place at the right time, able to tip the shot towards the goal to tie the game.
“I just gotta get over there, put my body on the line,” Gibb said about her mindset during the play. “I don’t care if it hits me, and it ended up going in.”
The Maroon and White entered overtime with a two–player advantage from some late Bucknell green cards, but was unable to take advantage of the numbers.
Despite another unconverted penalty corner from the Leopards, their defense held the Bison to just one shot before Gallagher finally found her winning goal.
“I think winning this game is really good, pushing us into the rest of the Patriot League games,” Gallagher said. “I think it gives us a lot of confidence and momentum going forward.”
This momentum propelled Lafayette to crush Dartmouth (2-5 overall), outshooting the Big Green 27-5 and holding their opponents to zero shots on goal.
Despite a scoreless first half, the Leopards found their footing a few minutes into the third. Senior midfielder Josephine van Wijk fired off a long pass from the outside to junior forward Maddie Evans, stationed in front of the goal for the leg up.
Freshman midfielder Rosalie van Gool increased the lead to 3-0 with back-to-back goals of her own. Sophomore forward Mia Freeman kept the firestorm coming after junior forward Lea Good slipped the ball under her defender for the assist. Finally, Van Wijk capped off the carnage on a penalty corner in the final seven minutes.
The Maroon and White will look for another Patriot League win against American University (2-0 Patriot League, 4-4 overall) on Friday, whom they beat in the Patriot League championship last year.
