Junior defender Lena Thedrian, with her iconic white headband, is the only Leopard on the field hockey team to score a hat trick this season — and she just did it again last Friday.
Two of these goals were game-winning. After battling back and forth with University of Delaware for the lead, Lafayette rewrote the story in the fourth quarter, notching three unanswered goals and outshooting the Blue Hens 8-0.
Thedrian tied the game 4-4 three minutes into the final quarter with a penalty corner goal that rocketed off the left post into the cage. Halfway through, she retook the lead by a low penalty corner shot that ended up loose and trickled in past Delaware’s defense.
With the opposing goalkeeper traded for an extra Blue Hen on the field, junior midfielder Stella Malinowski took advantage of the empty cage for an insurance goal from the top of the circle in the final minutes.
Despite a neck-and-neck game, the Leopards (5-1 Patriot League, 11-6 overall) put on the jets for their final quarter at Delaware (6-11 overall) to walk away 6-4 in their final regular-season matchup.
The game saw several season highs for the team: 21 points, six goals (tied with a 6-0 win against Longwood University), nine assists, 46 fouls and 12 penalty corners.
Delaware had the first few attempts of the game, but the Leopards’ first landed true in the final two minutes of the first quarter. An intercepted pass at midfield sparked a fast break for the visiting team, leading to freshman forward Lauren Kurek slipping past her defender for a one-on-one with the goalie and taking the first lead of the game.
“I was able to get a good touch of my inner circle,” Kurek said. “I kind of blacked out, but I just kept running and was able to settle the ball and just tried to get a good, hard shot off.”
Senior and Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Raffi Fragomeni’s wall against the Blue Hens was cleared by a penalty corner nearing the midpoint of the second quarter. The next penalty corner attempt was intercepted, but the home team regained possession for a very open look to steal the lead 2-1.
The Maroon and White looked to turn a new page in the second half, having been outshot 11-3 despite the close game.
“In the second half, we just focused on injecting momentum through really strong passes or a really good tackle or really good pressure on the field,” Kurek said.
In the third quarter, a pair of Lafayette penalty corners pulled the team back into the lead 3-2, including a shot by senior midfielder Josephine van Wijk that bounced over the diving goalie and Thedrian’s first goal of the game.
Their opponents quickly answered with a cleared penalty stroke to tie it up, and another penalty corner deflected high into the cage in the final minute of the quarter to take back the lead.
Despite the pair of blows, the Leopards returned to the field, claws out, for the two-goal win in the non-conference game.
“We have been in that situation multiple times in the season before, so we just wanted to stay really composed, not get super frantic, and just play how we know how to play,” Kurek said.”
The team played No. 3 seed Bucknell University on Thursday in Boston for the Patriot League semifinals, looking to extend its claim to the champion title.
“They also have a lot of really strong attackers,” Kurek said. “Our defense is going to be really key.”
