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BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | Published October 12, 2006

The women of the Swarthmore field hockey team (8-5, 3-3 CC) wanted nothing more Tuesday night than to slay the Centennial Conference giant that is Ursinus College (11-2, 7-0 CC). Though the Garnet ultimately fell 1-0 to the Bears, ranked fifth in the country, Swarthmore put up a heroic effort, fighting until the bitter end.

The Bears came out of the gate strong, keeping the ball in the Swarthmore defensive end for the majority of the first half. The Garnet defense, consisting of Anna Baeth ’09, Julie Monaghan ’07 and Saranne Perman ’07, repelled numerous Ursinus attacks. Two-time Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week, Garnet goalkeeper Karen Lorang ’07, put the team on her shoulders on several occasions by making important saves that kept the Garnet right in the thick of the match.

Coupled with a tremendous defensive performance by Baeth, the Garnet appeared to be able to handle the constant barrage. Even with frequent penalty corners being awarded to the Bears, Swarthmore responded by playing strong team defense to keep the game scoreless for the entire first half.

“The game was evenly matched. It was two great teams going at it. The game could have been ours,” forward Hoa Pham ’10 said.

The Garnet came out of halftime with unprecedented energy, taking the ball deep into Ursinus territory on several occasions, though it was unable to capitalize on its chances. However, the momentum quickly swung back to the Bears when Ursinus midfielder Allison Doutt broke the scoring deadlock with 30 minutes to play in the second half.

The remainder of the second half was much like the first, with Ursinus keeping the pressure on the Garnet defense. The Bears came knocking on the door with a 2-on-0 against Lorang late in the game, but Bears forward Jess Rogers could not chase down an errant pass and the ball cruised out of bounds.

“As far as skills go, this is the best team we’ve seen. This was the best defensive game we’ve played all season.” team manager Sven David Udekwu ’09 said.

Yet despite its best efforts, time ran out for the Garnet, which was unable to tie the score.

“No other team this year has played them so close. We’re here to compete. We were expecting a win. It was beautiful hockey,” coach Kelly Wilcox said after the game.

Saturday’s match against Washington College (2-9, 2-4 CC) proved a fruitless endeavor as the Garnet allowed the Shorewomen their first win of the season. The Garnet drew blood first, with Lindsay Roth ’07 scoring off a Summer Spicer ’07 pass with a little over than 20 minutes left in the first half, but it let the lead slip away when Rachel Miller redirected a Molly Gavin shot into the Swarthmore net with around 12 minutes to play in the first half.

The second half started with a good omen for the Garnet as Ashley Gunter ’09 buried a goal from a Julia Morrison ’07 pass just two and a half minutes into the half. This would be the beginning of the end for the Garnet, as Amanda Garbart scored the equalizer and Megan Rainey put the nail in the coffin with six minutes left in the game, which ended with a 3-2 loss for the Garnet.

On a more positive note, however, Spicer was named the Centennial Conference player of the week for her roles in the games against Johns Hopkins and Washington College, which included two goals and two assists for the senior captain.

The Garnet hopes to build on its solid performance against Ursinus in its next game at McDaniel College (6-6, 3-1 CC) on Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.

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