Over fall break, the field hockey team stayed on campus to host three games in a span of six days at Smith Field.
On Oct. 16, the Cardinals faced off against out of conference foe UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs took a 1-0 lead off a penalty corner within the first 10 minutes of the contest, but the Cards were able to fight back. Captain Hannah Plappert ’16 was awarded a penalty stroke in the 50th minute of play, which she slotted in the lower right-hand corner of the goal to tie the game at 1-1. At the end of regulation the score was still tied, so the teams headed into seven-on-seven overtime. Although the Cardinals had fought their way back into the game, the Corsairs dominated the overtime session. Six minutes into OT, the Corsairs ended the game on their third penalty corner of the extra period when their shot was redirected past goalie Claire Edelman ’17, who was making her first start in net for the Cardinals. The Cards are now 0-3 in OT games this season, all losses coming by a score of 2-1 in favor of the opposition.
After the heartbreaking loss to the Corsairs, the Cardinals only had one day off to reset and prepare for Little Three rival and seventh-ranked Amherst on Homecoming. The Cardinals hoped to snap an 11-game losing streak to the Lady Jeffs but got off to a bad start on Saturday. Within the first 30 minutes of the game, the Lord Jeffs jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the Cardinals and outshot the Birds 15-3. Despite their first half woes, the Cardinals returned fire in the second half. The Cardinals held the Lady Jeffs to only 1 shot, while taking 10 of their own. Although the Cardinals had numerous opportunities in the second 35 minutes of the game, they were unable to convert, and the halftime score of 4-0 held as the final.
With the loss against Amherst marking their fourth loss in a row, the Cardinals looked to stop the bleeding and get back in the win column. That would not be an easy task as they prepared to face 11th-ranked Trinity on Tuesday night at Smith Field. Unlike the previous two games, the Cardinals were on the scoreboard first. After playing defensively for the opening minutes of the game, the home team worked quickly on offense and was awarded its first penalty corner five-and-a-half minutes into the contest. The Cardinals found themselves with the early 1-0 lead after Lauren Yue ’17 inbounded the ball to Vanessa Block ’15. Block then passed the ball over to Plappert, who found the back of the net. Fifteen minutes later, the Cards saw their lead vanish during a quick counter attack when a Bantam dissected the Cardinals’ defense and shot the ball past Edelman. With the score knotted at one, Wes responded quickly. Three minutes later, Block and Yue were at it again. Block dribbled the ball off the restart, drawing two Bantams. She then slotted a centering pass to Yue, who fired a shot passed the netminder just inside the left post. Once again the Cards found themselves on top, but this lead would not hold. With less than five minutes remaining in the opening half, the Bantams converted off a broken-up corner that sent the game into halftime tied at two goals apiece.
“I think the last few games, especially the second half against Amherst and this game [against Trinity], we were playing the way we wanted to play; we were playing as a team and had great connecting balls,” Plappert said. “It’s what we practice and what we know, and it works. We just want to continue to play this way, and we think it’s going to be successful.”
On paper, it appears the Bantams, who outshot the Cards 9-5, had dominated the first half. But on the turf, the Cardinals controlled the pace of play and set the tone early. The Cards opened the second half of play intent on maintaining the same level of intensity, but the Bantams had thoughts of their own. They came out firing and never looked back. Forty-nine seconds after the restart, the Bantams caught the Cardinals off guard and took the lead for the first time on the evening, never to relinquish it. Over the next 34 minutes the Bantams would add another five goals, capping a 7-0 run.
“I am going to give credit to Trinity,” said Captain Anna Howard ’15. “They stepped it up [in the second half]. There are some things you can’t stop, and so I give credit to them. I think, though, we kept going after it and didn’t lose hope in anything.”
Although the Bantams dominated the stat sheet and the scoreboard in the second half, the Cardinals never capitulated, fought hard for every ball, and contested every shot.
“Even though they got some good goals in the second half, we are walking away from this game proud of how we did,” Plappert said.
“Regardless of how we did,” Howard added.
“I think the difference in the second half was that Trinity stepped it up to a notch that they weren’t playing at in the first half, but we did a great job of responding and keeping up with them: It’s just [that] they got a couple of good goals,” Plappert continued.
The Cardinals have now lost five in a row, which has not occurred since the 2008 season. On the season, the Cardinals are 3-10 with a 2-6 NESCAC record. The Cards currently sit tied with Hamilton for the eight seed in the NESCAC tournament with two games to go. On Saturday, Oct. 25th, the Cardinals head up to Vermont to take on Middlebury, which sits atop the NESCAC standings and is ranked third in the NCAA DIII.
“I think we are going to keep working on our give-and-goes and support on the field, and just keep working with that because that’s our game and that’s where we are the strongest,” Howard said on preparing to play the Panthers.
Although the Cardinals are the clear underdogs heading into Saturday’s game, they seem to be putting the final pieces of the puzzle together, which could just lead to what might be one of the biggest upsets in the team’s history.
“I think that the past couple of days we have been doing a great job of being really positive and playing as a team,” Plappert commented after the 8-2 Trinity loss. “The past couple of games we have figured out our mental game, so we just want to keep that in the right place.”