BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | Published October 26, 2006

Swarthmore’s field hockey team (9-7, 4-5 CC) started off its October break in style with a 2-1 overtime win over Centennial Conference foe McDaniel (9-7, 6-2 CC) on Oct. 14. The Garnet struck gold early with forward Lindsay Roth ‘07 netting the first goal of the game just four minutes into play off a pass from Neema Patel ’07 on a penalty corner. However, instead of yielding to the pressure, the Green Terror fought back and posted the equalizing goal just two minutes later, with Krissy Carls feeding forward Jamie Nash. After the initial flurry of scores, both teams locked horns for the remaining 65 minutes of regulation play, forcing sudden-death overtime. The Garnet didn’t wait around long, with Joslyn Young ‘10 slipping the ball past Green Terror goaltender Erika Wawzyanick just a minute into overtime. The game winner was Young’s second career goal.

The Garnet couldn’t keep the momentum rolling through break, though, falling 3-1 to conference rival Muhlenberg (9-6, 4-4 CC) on Oct. 21, adding fuel to the fire for the hotly contested two spots remaining for the conference playoffs. The Mules tallied their first goal of the game 10 minutes in as forward LisaAnn Polt tipped Nikki Rhodes’ shot past goaltender Karen Lorang ’07. The Garnet answered, with Sarah Reynolds ’09 knocking in her first goal of the season in the 26th minute off a shot from captain Summer Spicer ’07. From that point on, the Garnet defense and Lorang were bombarded with offensive attacks from the Mules, and Muhlenberg ended the day with a 36-6 shot advantage over the Garnet. Lorang made a heroic effort, racking up 13 saves to keep her team in the hunt for most of the game. Eventually the castle fell, however, as Nicole Notarianni netted the go-ahead goal with only 10 minutes remaining in regulation play. The Mules capitalized on this burst of momentum; Jillian Duffy added another goal just two minutes later to seal the fate of the Garnet.

Midfielder Sarah Reynolds ‘09 recognized the difficulty of ending the season with a stretch of in-conference showdowns. "The past couple of games we’ve had trouble adjusting to different surfaces," she said. “The teams we played were tough and didn’t give us any leeway to make mistakes.”

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, the Garnet butted heads with conference rival Haverford College (7-8, 3-6 CC) in a rematch of the game played for fifth place at this year’s Seven Sisters tournament. The Garnet was unable to come up with the big win that it needed to help secure a spot in the conference playoffs, ultimately losing to the Fords 2-0. With a little more than 22 minutes gone in the first half, Haverford forward Ariel Herm notched her first career goal to put the underdog Fords on top. The game remained 1-0 for the rest of the half, giving coach Kelly Wilcox and the team time to plan its attack for the second half.

The Garnet looked to capitalize on a penalty stroke awarded with just over 13 minutes to play in the second half. However, Haverford goaltender Sarah Graves was able to deflect Summer Spicer’s shot, allowing the Fords to preserve their precious one-goal lead. In the 69th minute of play Haverford forward Colleen Farrell knocked in her own rebound to pad the Haverford lead. The game ended without Swarthmore managing to find an equalizer.

“The game [Tuesday] was a tough loss but it was also a true testament to the Swat hockey team. We played hard and together. Even though the score does not reflect it, we played our game until the final buzzer. That’s how we roll,” Anna Baeth ’09 said.

The Garnet will conclude its regular season against Franklin & Marshall (4-11, 4-4 conference) at home on Saturday, Oct. 28. This game, the final home game of the season, serves as both Senior Day and the alumni game for Swarthmore. “We’re really determined to end the season on a high note and send our awesome seniors off with a win,” Jordan Schmidt ‘09 said. "They’ve been really great this season, and we definitely want to repay them for all their hard work."

As of publication, the Garnet still has an outside chance at a playoff berth, needing a complicated string of results. If F&M were to win at Muhlenberg on Wednesday in a game that finished too late for publication, Swarthmore would sneak into the playoffs with a victory over F&M on Saturday provided that conference guppy Washington (2-12, 2-7 CC) defeats Muhlenberg the same day.

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