BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | Published November 2, 2006

High noon at Clothier Field on Saturday, Oct. 28, marked the final game of the season for the Swarthmore field hockey team (9-8, 4-6 CC), and subsequently the team’s Senior Day. Before the contest against the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats (5-12, 5-5 CC), the nine seniors on the team were honored by the program. Forwards Julia Morrison ’07 and Lindsay Roth ’07, midfielders Neema Patel ’07 and Summer Spicer ’07, defenders Julie Monaghan ’07 and Saranne Perman ’07, goaltenders Karen Lorang ’07 and Melissa LaVan ’07 and team manager Emily Lowing ’07 were each presented with a rose and escorted onto the field by their parents. Yet despite the emotion and the luck of beating the rain, the Garnet was unable to secure a victory in its last match of 2006, losing 4-3 in overtime. “I think as frustrating as it is to lose a game after being up, we played a lot better than earlier in the season,” Lorang said.

The Garnet started the game in spectacular fashion, and as usual put the first goal of the match on the board with Roth tucking the ball off the left iron and in off a pass from Patel just over six minutes into the game. Early on it seemed that the Diplomats would fold early with the ball hardly even passing into the defensive half of the Garnet. “[The game] really showed to me [the seniors’] strength as a class,” Joslyn Young ’10 said. “The thing that stands out to me the most about the season is the atmosphere of the team.”

The first half was characterized by extended transition play with each team having few chances at the cage. Hustle was the name of the game when defender Anna Baeth ’09 chased down Jessica Senior of the Diplomats from behind and stripped the ball from her after Senior started an uncontested break towards the Swarthmore net, in all possibility a goal-saving display of heart.

The beginning of the second half was parallel to that of the first, with Abigail Fischer ‘08 scooping up a rebound from a shot by Ashley Gunter ’09 and dangling past Diplomat goaltender Jennifer Burdo to make the score 2-0 Swarthmore. This was Fischer’s ninth goal of the season, which gives her the scoring title for the 2006 team. Unfortunately, the Diplomats were not as wiling to give up as it may have seemed earlier, as Diplomat Anne Christensen ’08 made a smooth pass across the mouth of the cage allowing the ball to be slapped home by Pamela Cassidy ’09 past Garnet goaltender Melissa LaVan with just over 21 minutes left in regulation. However, the Garnet answered back with midfielder Sarah Reynolds ’09 corralling an Alex Gilbert-Bono ’10 shot that rattled off the pipe and potting her third goal of the season with a little more than seven minutes left in regulation.

From this point on, the glory was all for Franklin & Marshall. In the final six minutes of play, the Diplomats were able to score twice and send this match to extra minutes. Cassidy netted her second goal of the game with just over five minutes to play, and then with Maggie Onasch tucked in the game-tying goal just over three minutes left in the game.

After time expired, both teams headed for the six-on-six, sudden-death overtime. Carrying over their momentum from the end of regulation, the Diplomats took home the win with Brenna Dolphin putting the game away just over four minutes into the overtime period.

Even though nine talented student-athletes have wrapped up their careers on the team, the future looks bright for the Garnet. “The senior class was so big and had such strong personalities that the girls now will have a chance to rebuild and develop in their own space,” Lorang said.

“This season was the most promising team in years – a testament to the work that everyone has put in, especially the seniors over the last four years,” Hoa Pham ’10 said.

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