By Emma Reilly
Editor-in-Chief
Washington College’s field hockey team faced the Virginia Wesleyan Marlins on Saturday in what proved to be a well-paced win for the Shorewomen.
The non-Centennial Conference game took place on Kibler Field at Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium on Sept. 10. The final score tallied in at 5-0, marking WC field hockey’s second victory of the season.
The start of the match was concentrated around the opposition’s goal, with the Shorewomen keeping pressure on the Marlin’s defensive line.
Freshman midfielder Kendal Thomson scored the game’s first point in the last minute of the period with an assist from freshman midfielder Jules Weglarz, building momentum as the team headed into the second period.
It was Thomson’s first career goal for WC.
Twenty minutes into the match, sophomore forward Kat Esposito — assisted by freshman forward Emma Campbell — scored a second goal for WC.
Movement on the field picked up in the second period as the Marlins engaged WC’s defense. Though gameplay moved up and down the field, Virginia Wesleyan sophomore goalie Emma Wehr faced three additional shots on goal from the Shorewomen before the end of the first half.
The score was 2-0 entering the third period, with WC in the lead.
The second half of the match got off to an energetic start. The Shorewomen made three shots on goal within the first three minutes. Wehr — after defending the first two shots from freshman midfielder MaryCate Anson and senior midfielder Kyra Heap — was unable to prevent the Shorewomen from scoring. Senior midfielder Jillian Brejnik’s shot, assisted by Esposito, brought the score to 3-0.
Brejnik’s shot marked her second goal secured for WC this season. With an assist from senior midfielder Mariah Vain-Callahan, Brejnik scored in the second period of the team’s game against Notre Dame University of Maryland on Sept. 1.
Near the end of the third period, Wehr blocked another shot, this time from WC freshman midfielder Celia Long.
Three minutes into the fourth period, WC junior goalie Ava Rivera defended the cage against a shot by Virginia Wesleyan sophomore midfielder Lauren Hedspeth.
The Shorewomen kept the energy up, continuing to put pressure on the opposing team’s defensive players and take shots on goal until the clock ran out.
Senior midfielder Anna Harrington and freshman midfielder Samantha McMahon both made shots on goal in the last period.
McMahon and Anson each scored a goal for WC in the last seven minutes of the game. The Shorewomen defeated the Marlins 5-0.
The victory reflected the team cohesiveness the Shorewomen are striving toward.
“I think today we were connecting out passes really well,” Anson said. “I think we’re really finding our flow and I’m excited to see how our next couple of games go.”
The WC field hockey team’s next match, against Salisbury University, will take place on Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. It is an away game.
The Shorewomen’s first conference match against McDaniel College will occur at Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium on Kibler Field on Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.
According to Brejnik, the team’s goal for the upcoming season is, put simply, “to win.”