By Jhett Laurie
Staff Writer
The College’s field hockey team split their two most recent New Jersey Athletic Conference games, defeating William Paterson before losing to No. 14 Rowan in shootouts. The Lions now stand at 2-1 in the NJAC as conference play continues.
The Lions handily defeated William Paterson on Oct. 11 with a score of 6-0. The Lions smothered the Pioneers, not allowing a single shot on goal for the entire game.
Sophomore Avery Vacca scored her first goal of the season early in the first period on a pass from sophomore Rachael Tetzlaff. The Lions then put the pressure on in the second period, as juniors Isabel Maher and Jadyn Huff each found the cage to give the Lions a 3-0 lead.
Senior Mackenzie Hart managed to slip past the Pioneers defense early in the second half, scoring on a pass from Huff just 40 seconds in. Hart and Maher would each find the goal one more time to seal the game 6-0.
The College hosted Rowan on Oct. 15 with thoughts of being NJAC champions on their mind. Being the only two ranked teams in the conference, the winner of the game would likely go on to take the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament later in the season.
The Lions came out strong, with Hart scoring seven minutes in on a pass from freshman Lindsey Hoffman; however, the Profs did not want to go down easily, scoring the equalizer nine minutes later.
A strong offensive exchange between the teams saw junior Kara Wilson continue her offensive dominance, coming off the bench to score her ninth goal of the season.
The Lions defense would battle it out with the Profs, keeping 12 attempted shots out of the goal. A breakaway for Hoffman gave the Lions a comfortable two-goal lead with just seven minutes remaining.
Tragically, things would take a turn for the worse, as glimpses of last season’s matchup appeared. During their 2024 regular season matchup, the Profs would overcome a two-goal deficit with just four minutes remaining, winning the game. History was about to repeat itself.
Huff was sent off the field after receiving a yellow card, keeping her out of the game for five minutes. Rowan attempted to capitalize on the man advantage, even pulling their goalie to make it a 11 vs. 9, and it paid off.
The Profs would score two goals within two minutes, forcing the game into overtime. The Lions would fail to capitalize on a man advantage of their own, forcing the game into a second overtime.
Both teams would remain immaculate on defense, preventing the deciding goal from happening. The stalemate would go to shootouts, the second time this year.
The Lions were unable to find the momentum, with sophomore Julia Neff scoring their lone shootout goal. The Profs would win after making two consecutive attempts early on. After going 15 years with no shootouts, the Lions have lost two this season.
The Lions fell to 8-4 on the season and 2-1 in the NJAC. The team is traveling to Montclair State on Oct. 18 with hopes of bouncing back from the loss.
