By Alexandra Parado
Correspondent
The field hockey team finished its 2017 regular season with back-to-back wins against Albright College and Eastern University.
On Oct. 24, the Lions bounced back from their loss against Kean University with a 7-1 victory against Albright. The team then defeated Eastern University, 5-2, in its regular season finale at Lions Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Against Albright, senior forward Elizabeth Morrison put the Lions on the scoreboard with her 12th goal of the season, assisted by freshman forward Tori Tiefenthaler. Morrison also helped round out the first half of the game, when she assisted sophomore forward Cayla Andrews with a goal to finish the half up, 4-0. Junior midfielder/defender Sidney Padilla also contributed in the first half, with a goal 16 minutes into the game.
Just three minutes into the second half, sophomore forward/midfielder Kayla Peterson scored. First half scorers Morrison, Padilla and Andrews each grabbed one more goal which advanced the lead to 7-0.
The Lions shot 24 times, 18 of which were shots on goal. Out-shot by the Lions, Albright only had four shots, with three on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Madison Beaumont also recovered one save.
Albright managed to save face by scoring a goal off a corner with three minutes to go in regulation.
On Saturday, Oct. 28, the Lions faced Eastern University at home for both teams’ regular season finale.
The Lions spent the majority of their time in Eastern’s territory, where Eastern goalie Nicole Berger did her best to defend the goal.
“It took us a long time to lift the ball over (Berger),” Morrison said. “Once we started to get goals, myself and a lot of other teammates started to score more frequently.”
The Lions were first to put themselves on the board with a penalty shot made by Padilla. Junior forward Taylor Barrett set Andrews up with an assist minutes later, which put the Lions up, 2-0.
With six minutes left in the first half, senior goalkeeper Christina Fabiano kicked out a shot that came back through her legs for the Eagles first goal. Morrison then added one goal to the board ending the half with a score of 3-1.
Going into the second half, the Eagles scored on a penalty stroke to bring the game to 3-2. Eager and ready, the Lions responded and Morrison scored off her own rebound 15 minutes into the half for her second goal that afternoon. Morrison’s goals were followed up by one more from a deflected shot by Tiefenthaler with the assist of Andrews.
The Lions finished the game with a triumphant 5-2 win. After this win, the Lions improved their record to 12-3, which put them No. 2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. They host Rowan University on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. for the semifinals of the NJAC Tournament.
Prior to the game, the team celebrated senior day by honoring Fabiano and Morrison. Fabiano had five incredible saves that game and Morrison ended with 15 goals for the season.
On the same day, the Lions also hosted a “Play 4 The Cure,” event, where all proceeds and donations went toward the National Foundation for Cancer Research.
