By Jhett Laurie
Sports Editor
The College’s field hockey team has been off to a solid start, securing a 3-2 record over their first five games. These games were highlighted by a thrilling game against Haverford on Sept. 9.
To start their three-game away stretch, the Lions traveled to Haverford to put their impressive defense on display.
The team struggled early on, not recording a single shot until the waning minutes of the first half. Freshman Lindey Hoffman was able to force the Ford’s goalie to make a save. Haverford outshot the Lions 9-1 in the first half, with graduate Brigitte Racey recording her first four saves of the day.
Haverford kept the pressure on the Lions, ripping three shots in the first five minutes of the second half. The Lions managed to find a break, with senior Jadyn Huff finding the cage on a penalty stroke. Just four minutes later, Huff took what was only the fifth shot of the game for the Lions and picked up her second goal of the day.
Huff showed no signs of letting up in her most dominant season to date, ripping in a penalty corner at the start of the fourth quarter. This is her third hat trick as a Lion and first this season. Freshman Avery Gower recorded her first collegiate point off an assist to Huff.
Desperate to make up the three-point gap, Haverford’s offense cranked up the heat. The Fords attempted 13 more shots to close out the fourth quarter, with Racey securing eight of them. Racey ended off the day with 17 saves, the most by a Lions goalie since 2018.
Racey’s monstrous day in goal moved her up to third all-time in Lions career saves with 269. Junior Rachel Tetzlaff picked up two defensive saves to extend her record to 18.
The team faced their stiffest challenge yet when they traveled down to Baltimore to take on No. 4 Johns Hopkins.
The Blue Jays put the pressure on early scoring their first goal seven minutes in on a penalty stroke. The Lions offense struggled to get something started, not recording a shot on goal in the first period.
Hopkins put up four more shots before securing yet another stroke, which found its way past Racey in the goal. The Blue Jays tallied four more shots before the Lions got their first shot on goal in the 27th minute. In unprecedented fashion, Hopkins secured another stroke, giving them a 3-0 lead going into the half.
The Lions offense seems to not have not woken up, with the shot tally being 13-1. Racey did all she could in goal, keeping six of shots out.
The second half started off about as bad as it could have, with Hopkins scoring yet another goal to bring the score to 4-0. The Lions found a spark in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, with Tetzlaff scoring her first goal of the season. This did not prove to be enough.
The College saw an unprecedented number of substitutions, with 10 players coming off the bench. Sophomore Oliva Cano, junior Lindsay Fehir, junior Morgan Hanna and senior Kendal Justus all made their season debuts in this game.
Racey recorded 14 saves, making her total over the last two games 31, the most in Lions history.
On Sept. 16, the Lions took on Swarthmore to cap off their stretch of away games.
The Lions offense showed some signs of life compared to their game against Johns Hopkins, taking three shots compared to Swarthmore’s one. Senior Isabel Maher was able to find a hole and scored her first goal of the season to give the Lions the lead early on.
The second quarter was a stalemate, as neither team was able to find any space. Racey picked up two saves on three shots.
Swarthmore woke up late in the third quarter, sneaking one in to tie the game up. Racey made a miraculous save in the 43rd minute bringing down a stroke. In the fourth quarter, the Lions put the pressure on, forcing the Swarthmore goalie to make three saves in less than a minute. The Lions overcommitted on offense and the Garnet were able to pick up the go-ahead goal.
Junior Prisha Dhruve and freshman Avery Gower tried to send the game to overtime, but their efforts proved unsuitable.
The Lions take on William Smith at home on Sept. 19 at 1 p.m.
