Photo by Ally Hill ‘15 |Photo Editor
Homecoming weekend did not go according to plan for the Lafayette field hockey team (4-7, 1-1 PL). Visiting Bucknell (6-4) scored two goals in the first five minutes of the game en route to a 2-1 upset victory against the reigning Patriot League champions.
“It was a tough battle,” forward Aimee Smith ‘14 said. “Bucknell came out really strong and scored those two early goals. We dug ourselves in a hole and there wasn’t enough time to get out of it.”
Lafayette could not score until just six minutes left in the game when Kelsey Gula ‘14 deflected a shot from Jenna Seybert ’15 past the Bucknell goalkeeper.
“One of the better parts of the game was our goal off the corner,” forward Hanna Sotiropoulos ‘14 said. “We’ve really been working on that in practice so it’s good to see it translating into our game play. We just have to keep working on keeping the intensity up in the circle at all times.”
The Bison earned a penalty corner and capitalized three minutes after the game started. Two minutes later, it was an unassisted shot that went past goalkeeper Jessica Deutsch ‘15.
Lafayette held a 7-4 advantage on penalty corners and outshot Bucknell 10-6 throughout the game. Deutsch made two saves.
“We just didn’t come out as fired up as they were, and we really suffered because of it,” forward Katie Birle ‘16 said. “They had really good stick skills and we were just really lacking in urgency. We have to step up our individual defense and just make sure we’re constantly ready to play.”
“We’re such a good team and we just didn’t play up to our potential.”
Lafayette has one of its toughest league games tomorrow when it takes on American University (7-3, 3-0 PL). Last year, the Leopards beat American in the finals to win the Patriot League Tournament, so that fact alone has added intensity to the matchup.
“Coming off a rough loss on Saturday, we keep reiterating that we are still completely in control of how the rest of our season turns out,” midfielder Dana Thomas ‘14 said. “We’re having very difficult practices and lifts all week and we’re all getting through them together. We just have to keep going out on the field each day and give our all, because we know the person next to us is doing the same.”
Game time is set for 11 a.m. tomorrow in Washington, D.C.
