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Alex Zhang | Phoenix Staff

Co-captain Anna Baeth and Midfielder Hadley Roach were on the offensive in the first half of the game.

BY NOLAN GEAR

In print | Published September 18, 2008

The Swarthmore Women’s Field Hockey team lost its second match of the season to the visiting Eastern Eagles this Saturday at noon. Although they started the second half with a 1-0 advantage, the team could not maintain its lead, culminating in a loss with a final score of 2-1.

In what was ultimately a very close game, the Eastern Eagles, cheered on by an accordion-accompanied fight song, were able to gain the upper hand in the second half, scoring two goals on goalie Gina Grubb and revamping their defense to prevent a repetition of the first half’s Garnet dominance.

The match remained scoreless until 11 minutes into the first half, when Swarthmore forward Abbe Muller ’10 scored with an assist from Natalie Stone ‘09. The Garnet continued to dominate the first half, relentlessly pushing against Eastern’s defenses and shooting at the goal twelve times.
Eagles senior goalie Kelly Hermann proved to be a force to be reckoned with, blocking 11 of the 12 shots and cutting the Garnet’s offensive advantage short. The Swarthmore defense also played a strong first half, with ten saved shots by Gina Grubb ’10.

Yet the accordion music from Eastern’s side of the stands became more enthusiastic as the Garnet’s endurance slowly waned in the second half. Within the first three minutes, Eastern senior Kimberly Campbell scored the Eagles’ first goal of the match. The Garnet continued to tire, and the defense became decidedly weaker.

Eastern sophomore Sarah Garber scored the Eagles’ second goal with less than ten minutes remaining in the second half. The Garnet offense attacked relentlessly in the last five minutes, putting constant pressure on Eastern goalie Laura Ressler ’11. Despite the effort, Swarthmore was unable to score the tying goal.

Head Coach Lauren Fuchs was disappointed with the end result, which marked Swarthmore’s second loss of the season. According to Fuchs, the team wasted a golden opportunity. “We played a great game in the first half; we dominated,” Fuchs said. “But when you have an opportunity in the first half like we did, you need to score more goals.” Nevertheless, Fuchs remains optimistic about the team’s chances for the rest of the season.

“We’ve got a great group of girls,” said Fuchs. “They make changes, they’re very coachable.” Becoming instantly pragmatic, however, Fuchs asserted that the Achilles’ heel that the team will have to tackle is endurance. “We need to pick up the fitness level so these girls can follow through. Then, we should pick up a lot more wins,” Fuchs said.

Fuchs’ assertion was corroborated by goalie Grubb. “We got tired,” Grubb said after Saturday’s match. “But we played a great first half. If we play like we did in the first half, we’ll have a great season.” According to Grubb, however, the Swarthmore team has one great advantage over the competition: unity.

“We’re very, very close,” Grubb said. “We spend a lot of time together outside of practice. We’re pretty much the same team as last year, with one new addition. The new addition is first-year defender Lara Hasychak, who does not feel like a newcomer at all: “They don’t treat me any differently; I really feel like an important part of the team,” said Hasychak.

Swarthmore is now 1-2 in its early season, with a win against the Roanoke Maroons on Aug. 30 and a loss against the Cabrini Cavaliers on Aug 31.

The team faces Elizabethtown on Tuesday. Fuchs and her team remain confident that they can move forward to a victory against Elizabethtown and ultimately to a successful fall season.

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