After winning its first round game in the NCAA Division III Tournament last week, the College's field hockey team suffered a tough 2-0 defeat to Bowdoin College in the second round, ending the season with a record of 15-5.
On Saturday, the Lions had to travel all the way to Brunswick, Maine to take on undefeated Bowdoin. Unfortunately, the Lions were never able to get the offense going.
The defense held tough for the first 28 minutes, not allowing a goal, but the offensive effort of Bowdoin eventually paid off when Lindsay McNamara scored on a goal assisted by Christi Gannon. Then, with 7:13 remaining in the game, Bowdoin all but terminated the Lions' season, with an insurance goal coming from Burgess LePage unassisted.
Lions' sophomore midfielder Colleen Dougherty was very upset about the loss because she felt her team did not play up to its potential. "We did it to ourselves," Dougherty said. "We didn't play how we could have. Therefore, we were our own worst enemies. The pressure the other team was putting on us did not make it easy for us to overcome and play as a team."
Freshman forward Jennifer Lubin also expressed disappointment, but said it is time to move on and look ahead. "We were all obviously disappointed," Lubin said. "But head coach (Sharon) Pfluger said we have to move on and learn from our mistakes so we don't have to feel the same disappointment again next year."
Now that this season is over, there is only one thing for the team to do - prepare for next year. Dougherty is excited about the returning players and is confident next year's team will also make the playoffs and make a run at the championship.
"We lost our goalie from the starting lineup but I am very confident that our other goalie (Erin Mitschke) will do great next year. We have a young team so we are going to have to just work extremely hard next year to be consistent because if we play our game, we are going to be extremely hard to beat."
Lubin says although the season ended with a rough defeat, all-in-all, it was a successful season. "Even though our season ended the way it did, we had a lot of success throughout the season," she said. "We accomplished some great things and we're excited for next season."
The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) released its all-conference team, and plenty of Lions were on the list. Junior defender Meg Hess earned a spot on the first team and was also named NJAC Defensive Player of the Year. Joining Hess on the first team were junior forwards Allison Greene, Jess Berkowitz and sophomore defender Sheri Grondski. Lubin was named NJAC Rookie of the Year.
