SUWANEE, Ga. - The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opened its sixth season of field hockey this past week with all five teams in action. Conference play gets underway this week as the SCAC seeks to send a team to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.
AROUND THE SCAC
Centre won two dramatic matches in overtime on
the opening week of play. Centre defeated NCAA Division II foe
Bellarmine University 4-3 on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and followed up on
Saturday, Sept. 5 with a 5-4 come-from-behind win against a feisty
NAIA opponent Lindenwood University. Centre outshot both opponents
(Bellarmine 18-10) and Lindenwood (17-12). The Colonels received a
superior effort from junior Cynthia Morse this week, who tallied a
goal and two assists. Fellow junior Sarah Humphries added two goals
and two assists, senior co-captains Mary Kate Clodius, Sally
Faulkner, and Rachel Watkins (1 goal each), and freshmen Barbara
Parks (2 game-winning goals), Jessica McLean (1 goal, 1 assist),
and Maddie Cristofoli (1 assist) also added points for Centre.
Reigning SCAC Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year
Patty Cowley made a number of incredible saves in both matches to
give the attack the cushion it needed to secure the victories.
Freshman Sydney White gave two superb defensive performances
eliminating both opponents most lethal attacking threats. Centre
begins SCAC play this week on the road at DePauw University and
Sewanee-University of the South.
Sarah Riffle's goal with just 1:44 remaining broke a 3-3 tie and
gave DePauw a 4-3 win at Roankoke on Sunday and
wrapped up a 2-1 week. The Tigers opened the season with a 4-0 win
over Lindenwood before falling at 16th-ranked Lynchburg, 9-0.
DePauw trailed Roanoke, 2-0, before Riffle scored her first goal at
29:44 and Bridgette Shamleffer knotted the score with a penalty
stroke at 36:41. Kimberly Trainor gave the Tigers the 3-2 lead at
48:56 before Roanoke matched that at 51:52. DePauw outshot Roanoke,
28-15 in the win. In the season opener against Lindenwood, four
different Tigers scored one goal each in the shutout. Trainor put
the Tigers on the board first at 29:21 before Riffle made it 2-0
with her second-half goal at 41:36. Katie Sowar followed with a
score at 52:31 before Lauren Castagno scored in her first
collegiate game with just 14 seconds remaining. DePauw outshot the
Lions, 23-6, and held a 6-2 edge in corners. Liz Attewell recorded
the shutout in goal for the Tigers. Host Lynchburg scored twice in
the opening six minutes and expanded the lead on the way to a 9-0
win over DePauw. Lynchburg outshot DePauw 28-10 and held a 9-8 edge
in penalty corners.
Hendrix picked up its second-straight season
opening win on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Sewanee-The
University of the South. Saturday’s contest will not count
towards SCAC standings. Junior Taylor LaFortune and first year
Kelley Rappe both scored a goal in the win. Hendrix avenged a 3-2
double overtime loss to Sewanee in last year’s SCAC
post-season tournament. LaFortune scored the Warriors’ first
goal of the season off an assist from sophomore Lauren Thorburg in
a penalty corner with 2:25 left in the first half. Rappe then
scored her first collegiate goal off an assist from junior Abby
Coleman with 26:47 remaining in regulation. The Hendrix defense
held strong and denied four penalty corner attempts from Sewanee in
the second half. Junior goalkeeper Alyssa Havens posted her third
career shutout with eight saves (two in the first half, six in the
second half) on the day.
Rhodes opened the 2009 season with a win over
forfeiting Oberlin and an overtime loss to perennial regional
powerhouse Wooster (2-0) at Transylvania in Lexington, KY. After
getting scored on in the first 10 minutes of play the Lynx rallied
to a 3-1 halftime lead in their first contest on two goals by
junior Lindsey Gurkovich and one by sophomore Sara Sanders. Wooster
came out of half time strong catching the Lynx back on their heels
and evening the game in the first 10 minutes of second half play.
Both teams settled in for a scoreless remained of the second half
that was evenly played. Wooster ended the game just five minutes
into overtime play on All American Amanda Artman's second goal of
the game and fourth of the season. The Lynx had great defensive
efforts from seniors Laura Deines, Kristen Lee, and Meghan Cullen.
Junior All Region performer Charlie Wagner paced play for the Lynx
from the center of the field and added an assist. Rhodes (1-1) will
open SCAC play at Hendrix on Saturday September 12th at 1 pm.
Sewanee opened its 2009 season at Hendrix College
in Conway on Saturday and the host Warriors topped the visiting
Tigers 2-0. Hendrix led 1-0 at the halftime intermission and sealed
the final 2-0 score in the second period with a Kelly Rappe goal.
Hendrix outshot Sewanee 17-14, while Sewanee took seven penalty
corners compared to five for the Warriors. Emily Detmer (Denver,
Colo., Pomfret) played all 70 minutes in goal for the Tigers and
logged five saves. Newcomer Cameron Herndon (Winston-Salem, N.C.,
Forsyth Country Day) led the Tiger offensive effort with five
shots, but none found its mark. Sewanee is now 0-1 and will host
Transylvania and Centre next weekend.
To view the entire Sticks Weekly from week one, click here.