Wednesday night’s field hockey game held high stakes for both the Cardinals and Conn. College’s Camels, as the game determined which team would make the NESCAC tournament as the eighth and final seed. For the Cardinals a win meant they would be in, but a loss would put them in a three-way tie with the Camels and the Hamilton Continentals for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Both teams knew the importance of a win for the evening, and their play on the field reflected it. The Cardinals came out firing and dominated the pace of play throughout the first half. The Cardinals spent most of the opening 11 minutes of the game possessing the ball in their offensive end, creating some quality scoring opportunities.
In the 11th minute, the Camels tried to clear the ball out of their own defensive end, but the Cardinals applied enough pressure to stay put. Mackey Hemphill ’15 stole the ball from a Camel defender and centered a pass to Captain Hannah Plappert ’16, who hit a low bouncer into the back of the net and put the Cardinals up 1-0.
During the first half, the Cardinals outshot the Camels 8-3 and had seven penalty corners while the Camels had only one. Despite having fewer offensive opportunities, the Camels still applied pressure. With less than 10 seconds until halftime, the Camels sprinted downfield after the Cardinals turned the ball over, creating a two-on-one. The Camel player passed to her open teammate, who took a wide- open shot as the clock ticked, but Sara Grundy ’16 made a spectacular leg save, her lone save of the half, to send the Cardinals into halftime with the score remaining 1-0.
A mere 35 minutes were all that separated the Cardinals from a win and a sixth straight playoff appearance, but the Camels were not ready to have their season end. The Camels came out determined in the second half, but they could not convert for an equalizer as Grundy and the Cardinals’ defense stood strong. Once again on the attack, the Cardinals wasted no time. As a result of their perseverance, the Birds were awarded a penalty corner. Off the inbound pass, Vanessa Block ’15 took a shot that was stopped by the Camels’ netminder, but the rebound came out to Hemphill. Hemphill lobbed the ball over the goalie, who was still recovering from the initial save, into the back of the net and gave the Cardinals a commanding 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to play.
“I think that when we went up by two goals, we felt like that was a good enough lead, whereas Conn came out for the second half fired up,” commented Captain Anna Howard ’15.
Despite being down 2-0, the Camels were determined to put up a fight and mount a comeback. Two minutes after Hemphill scored, the Cardinals suddenly found their lead cut in half, and the momentum started to shift. Five minutes later, the Camels were awarded their second of three penalty corners in the half. The opposing attacking player centered the pass and took a shot from the top of the circle that was heading to the left post where another Camel waited to redirect the ball into the back of the net past Grundy. With 13 minutes remaining, the score was level at two goals apiece. Three and a half minutes later the Cards once again found themselves in their defensive half. After a scrum in front of the Cardinals’ net, the Camels were awarded a penalty stroke, and they did not waste the opportunity: they capitalized on the penalty stroke and took the 3-2 lead, which held as the final score.
“Everyone really played with heart this season,” Plappert stated after the game. “Wednesday we just couldn’t pull out the win; Conn. really upped their tempo in the second half. Regardless, we’ve had a lot of fun this year.
The loss put the Camels, Cardinals, and Continentals in a three-way tie, with the tiebreaker also even as the three each held 1-1 records against each other. Therefore, to determine which team would make the playoffs a name was drawn randomly out of a hat, and unfortunately for the Old Methodists, the Continentals were selected.
Despite dropping their last seven games of the season, the Cardinals were pleased with the way they played in the second half of the season.
“I’m proud of how well we played in the second half of the season,” Plappert said. “Although our record doesn’t reflect it, we were really playing great hockey and competing against some of the best teams in the country.”
Although the Cardinals will be losing four key players to graduation, Block, Howard, Hemphill, and Lilah Fones ’15, the Cards will return seven starters for the 2015 season.
“This is a very young team that has some great potential,” Howard said. “I am bummed that my senior year had to end this way, but I am excited to see this team grow and become a force to be reckoned with!”