By Tyler Fennell
Staff Writer
The College had two away games last week and walked away with two victories.
The first game was against Farmingdale State on April 2. The Lions took home a commanding 22-10 win.
The College dominated in shots 41-21, 28 of which were on goal. They minimized turnovers, only having 11 throughout the game. They also led in ground balls and draw controls with 17 and 21, respectively.
Standout performances include fifth-year Ally Tobler continuing her streak of at least four points in every game since the start of the season, having four goals and five points. This is also supported by all of her shots being on goal, with an unheralded 1.000 shots-on-goal percentage.
Sophomore Gabriella Roosa had a dominant game with five goals and four assists for nine points. She had five shots on goal, with all five going in the back of the net.
Sophomore CJ Kole also had a great game with four goals and seven points.
The College’s first New Jersey Athletic Conference game was against Montclair State on Saturday, April 5.
The College came away with a victory. However, it was a very close game with a score of 16-15. Every underlying metric was also close. Shots were 37-35, shots on goal were 31-25, turnovers were 17-20, ground balls were 14-18 and draw controls were 21-14. The only statistic the College did not win in was ground balls. However, the statistic itself is only important with context.
Shots are a good indication of ball possession. The takeaway from this game would be that it was evenly matched in terms of possession. The College having more shots on goal is a good indicator of accuracy. The more shots on goal, the more the opposing goalie is tested, therefore, there is more room for error for the goalie. The College also had fewer turnovers, which is an indication of the other team’s defense. The fewer turnovers, the better.
Ground balls, like stated before, are a stat reliant on context. Was the team missing passes? In that case, more ground balls are not a good thing. However, they can also be a good thing in the case that they are picking up a turnover. It is a stat about covering up mistakes on both sides of the field.
Given the closeness in basically every stat, it is safe to say that the teams were just evenly matched, and the Lions got the more favorable result. There were areas the team could improve on, primarily their defense toward the end of the 4th quarter, as they gave up five goals in the frame compared to their one. However, the result is what matters, and in that case, they got the win.
The College will return to action at home on April 9 to face another NJAC opponent in Kean before heading south to take on No. 6 Salisbury on April 12.
