By Jordan Fairchild
Elm Staff Writer
On Saturday, Sept. 26, the Washington College field hockey team traveled to Winchester, Va., to compete against the non-Conference Shenandoah University Hornets. This would be the first-ever meeting of the two teams. The Shorewomen were defeated by the Hornets, 2–5.
Around three minutes into the first quarter of the game, the Hornets scored their first goal. At the 10 minute mark, they would score once more, bringing the score to 0–2 going into the second quarter.
Seven seconds into the second quarter, the Hornets scored again, making the score 0–3.
But the Shorewomen answered back with a goal about 30 seconds later scored by freshman Kat Esposito. Esposito has scored a goal in each of the last four games played by the Shorewomen.
This made the score 1-3 at halftime.
The Hornets scored again in the third quarter, with just five seconds left on the clock, bringing the score to 4-1.
In the fourth quarter, the Hornets scored their final goal of the game at 50:57. Senior Maddie Knight answered late in the fourth quarter for the Shorewomen. With this goal, the final score would be 2–5, a victory for the Hornets.
“This team has shown a lot of dedication towards our success. We are coming off of past losing seasons, so it is intimidating for us against teams who know of our record,” Knight said. “We have been working hard to overcome this and have shown a whole lot of improvement towards increasing our confidence.”
“This team has a great culture that continuously helps us stay unified through both wins and losses,” sophomore Kate Gromacki said.
Sophomore Ava Rivera would come away with eight saves in goal for the Shorewomen and sophomore Sasha Dennis would come away with 10 saves, a career high for her.
The Hornets had one save during the game.
The Shorewomen made four shot attempts on the goal, while the Hornets made 29.
“We are working on continuing our team connection by communicating our values on and off the field and to have a supportive and encouraging culture regardless of winning or losing,” junior Kyra Heap said. “We are also working hard on another playing principle, pass to connect. We want to get our passing more clean.”
The Shorewomen now have an overall record of 4–3 this season. The Shorewomen will begin Conference play on Wednesday, Sept. 29. They will travel to Westminster, Md. to face the McDaniel College Green Terror.