In their first home game since Tuesday, Sept. 2, the Lions faced the Richard Stockton Ospreys on Tuesday, Sept. 30. An important New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup, the Lions prepared an attempt to take the lead atop the conference with a victory against the Ospreys. However, in atypical fashion for the Lions, they were not able to get off to a strong start to put the game out of reach early, and it was the second half that gave the College a 5-0 win.
The Lions’ lone goal of the first half came about 12 minutes into the game on a score by sophomore Jaclyn Douglas off the assist from senior Lindsey Hatch. While the Lions had many opportunities to score, with credit due to Hatch’s penetration of the Stockton defense, they were not able to convert due to the Ospreys’ defensive saves made by defenders Alexa Massa and Cassie Kirk.
The second half proved to be a different story for the Lions, quickly scoring off Douglas’s second of the game, a beautiful long shot that came down right between the head of the keeper and the top of the crossbar. Hatch then responded with a goal of her own right after, finally able to capitalize on her many shots on goal, with her team leading 15th of the season. The outburst did not stop there, with Douglas completing her second hat trick of the season and junior Mikayla Cimilluca netting her first goal of the season. The Stockton keeper, senior Liz Stankiewicz, had a fantastic night in goal with 14 saves. But the 40-4 shots advantage that the Lions amassed proved to be too much for the Ospreys.
“We were creating a lot of opportunities for ourselves since the beginning of the game, but we just couldn’t capitalize,” Coach Sharon Pfluger said. “Stockton’s defense was really tough all night, and we had some difficulty. Luckily, we worked hard all game, and it worked out in our favor. I’m really proud of them for continuing to work hard even things were not going their way.”
The Lions also faced Albright College at home on Thursday, Oct. 2, to complete their week in their eleventh matchup of the season, coming out with a 7-0 victory to improve to 10-1 on the season.
Here, the Lions were back in usual form, with three goals coming in the first seven and a half minutes. Douglas began the attack with a goal off a Hatch assist, followed by sophomore Danielle Andreula netting one herself. Hatch made it 3-0 with a goal 55 seconds later off assist by senior Erin Healy.
The Lions continued to score, with Healy and Hatch adding two more. It was the same story in the second half, with Douglas scoring her second of the game and Hatch completing another hat trick. Hatch became the second Lion this season to surpass the 100 career points list of the program, following Healy’s entry in the club earlier this season.
The Lions will travel to Eastern University this Tuesday, Oct. 7, after a quiet weekend when they can get some rest.
