The Lions continued their dominance over fellow New Jersey teams with their fifth win in NJAC conference play against William Paterson on Tuesday, Oct. 21. With one game left in their regular season schedule, the Lions are one step closer to securing the top seed in the upcoming NJAC tournament. The owner of the first seed is awarded home field advantage throughout the tournament, a gain that carries a lot of weight for all teams.
In typical fashion, the Lions got on the board first against the Pioneers, scoring two goals in the first 15 minutes of the game. Senior Lindsey Hatch and sophomore Jaclyn Douglas were able to score, a feat that both have been able to complete often this season. Later in the period, the Lions scored again, making the game 3-0 off a goal by sophomore Danielle Andreula with the assist from senior Victoria Martin. This goal gave the team a strong lead going into the second half, as well as confidence for the rest of the game. Senior Erin Waller was able to get on the board in the second half, adding a goal pretty early in the period.
The Pioneers responded with a goal of their own 49 seconds later, but the Lions answered back with two scores by Andreula and Hatch to officially put the game away at 6-1. Sophomore Kelly Schlupp continued her very strong season in goal, picking up her 15th win of the year and kept the opposition in check as she has done all year.
On Sunday, the Lions played their last home game of the season and held a ceremony before the game to honor their six seniors: Erin Healy, Marissa Pennypacker, Erin Waller, Lindsey Hatch, Victoria Martin and Amanda Krause.
While the game was emotional for the seniors, they understood the implications. A win against Juniata College would set up a game versus Rowan on Saturday, Nov. 1, to decide the top seed of the NJAC tournament.
Fortunately, the Lions were able to come away with a win on Senior Day with a goal five minutes into the second half by none other than Senior Lindsey Hatch, her 26th of the season.
The score brought her to a year total of 71, becoming only the third player in program history to reach 70 points in a season. The real victory for the Lions was their defense, however, which didn’t allow a single shot on goal, making Krause and Schlupp’s job in goal easier.
With the win, the Lions will travel to Glassboro to face off against Rowan University at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1 and look to continue their success in the NJAC playoffs.
