Friday's Scoreboard
Rider 5, Bellarmine 1
Indiana 1, Miami 0
Lock Haven 2, Ball State 1
Longwood 2, Towson 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Rider 5, Bellarmine 1
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio—The Bellarmine Knights field hockey team dropped a 5-1 decision to Rider on Friday afternoon at a neutral site game on the campus of Miami University.
"Our mindset was not where it needed to be coming off our first Division I win last weekend," said Bellarmine Coach Devanny Boisvert said. "We needed to use that momentum and energy going into today."
After a scoreless first quarter, the Broncs tallied two goals in the second period to take a 2-0 lead at the half. The reigning Northeast Conference champions tacked on another score early in the third quarter to see their lead swell to 3-0.
The Knights, however, answered quickly as sophomore Peyton Hobson converted a pass from senior Cassidy Sweeney just 43 second later to trim the margin to 3-1.
Rider scored once more in the third period, then dominated the fourth quarter by outshooting the Knights 12-0 in the final stanza. Bellarmine goalkeeper Breanna McWhorter tallied six of her nine saves on the day in the final period to keep the game close.
Boisvert said the Knights had scoring opportunities but couldn't close the gap. "We had some beautiful passing sequences, and we had plenty of offensive opportunities," she said. "Our execution needs to be more purposeful. We have to do a better job at problem solving in the moment and be able to adjust to their press and positional formation."
For the game, Rider owned advantages in virtually every offensive statistic, outshooting the Knights 24-9 including 14-4 on cage. The Broncs also owned a 7-4 edge in penalty corners.
The Bellarmine coach credited the opposition for making scoring difficult. "Rider is the reigning NEC champions and competed in the NCAA tournament," Boisvert said. "They are tough. They defended us well and defensively created a lot of chaos and confusion for us."
The Knights are back in action on Monday when they travel to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers in a 3 p.m. contest.
Boisvert hopes her charges will turn the page from today's game and move on to rest of the season. "Tomorrow is a new day," she said, "and we have two days to refocus to prepare for IU on Monday."
Indiana 1, Miami 0
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio— The Miami University field hockey team fell to Indiana University in an extremely even and hard-fought 1-0 decision.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Miami outshot the Hoosiers 7-5 in the first half but was not able to capitalize despite six first-half corners. As a result, the first half ended deadlocked at 0-0.
Indiana struck first to break the tie with 9:27 left in the third quarter, making the game 1-0.
Despite two corners and two shots in the final quarter, the RedHawks were unable to even the game.
Both the RedHawks and the Hoosiers had 11 shots each and Miami had a 9-6 edge in penalty corners.
Lock Haven 2, Ball State 1
Box Score
Lock Haven, Pa. -It is never easy to lose a hard- fought battle especially when you are the team that sent the game into overtime. But unfortunately for the Cardinals the overtime victory went to the Bald Eagles Friday afternoon at Charlotte Smith Field.
The Cardinals (0-3) were looking to get their first win of the season but regrettably fell short (2-1) to Lock Haven (1-0) in the extra period.
"This was hands down the most dominant game and best hockey we've played," Ball State field hockey coach Stephanie Bernthal said. "Emma Hilton had a monster performance along with so many others. Our youth is maturing fast, chemistry is strong, people are stepping up in key moments for us and at some point, the tide will turn for this team. There is definite mental shift in this program, we are confident, and we know our time is coming."
Just like Ball State's previous two contests, the Cardinals have held their opponents scoreless in the first 15 minutes of action and today's match-up was no different against Lock Haven.
The Bald Eagles would strike first in the second frame of action to take an early 1-0 edge over the Cardinals and would remain in control up until the final quarter of play.
With a little over 13 minutes remaining in the fourth period, sophomore Maureen Donegan connected with the back of the cage off the assist from Libby Kraus, knotting the game 1-1.
That score from Donegan would end up being the goal that sent the contest into an extra period.
Both teams put up a good fight in the overtime until Lock Haven made a quick move up the field with limited Cardinals on hand to help defend their territory. Lock Haven's Martina Spangenberg would take a quick shot which snuck past BSU's goalkeeper Hannah Johnston for the game-winning goal.
The Ball State field hockey team continues its three-game Labor Day weekend when it travels to Saint Francis University on Sunday, Sept. 5 with the game set to begin at noon.
Longwood 2, Towson 0
Box Score
FARMVILLE, Va. – Defense has long been a calling card for Longwood field hockey, and the Lancer defense showed out in a dominant performance for their home opener on Friday night at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field.
The Lancer (2-1) back line sucked up all the oxygen and shut down Towson (0-2), blanking the Tigers in a 2-0 win that was Longwood's second shutout in three matches to start the 2021 fall campaign. The Lancers only surrendered three shots, with the only shot on goal coming late in the fourth quarter. That shot ended a stretch of more than 42 minutes of game time where Longwood didn't even allow a shot, including both the second and third quarters in their entirety.
"It feels great. I think we really worked as a team," said senior forward Jamie Wright. "We were struggling a little bit on our press last weekend, we fixed that. Our intensity got higher, and we started playing better as a team, got a lot of shots, and now they're turning into goals."
The defensive wall continually fed the offense, allowing Longwood to apply pressure all game long. Ana Paula Lazaro and Luna Lopez both broke through in the second quarter for goals, and the Lancers stayed aggressive and pushed the pace for the remainder of the match.
"It was a good first win at home," said Longwood head coach Iain Byers, now in his 14th season at the helm. "I think we controlled large portions of the game. It never felt truly comfortable, which was actually nice that we managed to keep the tempo going and never took our foot off, which is something we talked about leading up to the game."
Longwood outshot Towson 21-3, but a heroic effort in goal by Lena Vandam kept the Tigers close, as the graduate student finished with 11 saves. The Lancers kept Vandam under duress by drawing 15 penalty corners, and seven players took a shot for Longwood.
"Even at 2-0, you're still one error away from a momentum shift," Byers said. "In games like this, that's huge. It was good that we didn't give them the opportunity to get that momentum shift, but I think we could have done a little better up front. At the same time, we took some opportunities. Sometimes they play well, sometimes it goes for you. Sometimes you have 20 shots and score two, sometimes you have two and score two. You take the rough with the smooth."
Vandam did yeoman's work in the first quarter, tallying five saves as Longwood generated four penalty corners that led to seven shots. Paula Lazaro was the first to unlock Vandam in the second quarter, deflecting Rio Weber's shot into the cage on a penalty corner. It was Paula Lazaro's first goal of the season.
With the defense playing so well, Lopez's goal near the end of the first half felt like the decisive blow. She sliced past Vandam along the endline to slot the goal home with less than 80 seconds to go in the half, her second goal of the young season.
The Lancers are back in action next weekend when they head to Old Dominion on Friday, Sept. 10 followed by a quick jaunt to William & Mary on Sunday, Sept. 12. They return home to host Bellarmine to open conference play on Sept. 18 at noon.
