By Aaron Rodenhausen
Sports Editor
Washington College field hockey lost to two competitive opponents this week, 2nd-ranked Johns Hopkins University and Swarthmore College, but held each to the knife-edge win margin of 1-0.
The Shorewomen traveled to Baltimore, Md. on Oct. 22 to play the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins.
The Blue Jays put a point on the board in the last five seconds of the first period. Sophomore forward Tyler Rice attempted to land the ball in the left side of the goal seven minutes before halftime, but her shot struck the goalie instead. Afterward, the Shorewomen were awarded a penalty corner.
Senior forward Emma Campbell sent the corner to sophomore defender Laney Errikson, who took the shot, but the Blue Jays deflected her attempt and kept their 1-0 lead going into halftime. Junior goalkeeper Charlotte Schurman held Hopkins on a tight leash, making six saves in the first half of the game.
“The best moment of the game for me was watching our defense and goalie Charlotte Schurman go up against some very tough shots and situations and hold Hopkins to only one goal,” Rice said.
Senior midfielder MaryCate Anson attempted another shot in the final few minutes of the third period. The goalie halted her play, but the Shorewomen earned another corner. Senior forward Samantha McMahon took a stab at the net, but the Shorewomen still could not penetrate the Hopkins defense.
Anson and Campbell each took another shot before the game’s end, but both proved unable to best the goalkeeper. Despite losing 1-0, the Shorewomen still managed to hold #2 Johns Hopkins to a lead of a single goal for the entire game. Schurman achieved eleven saves, her new high this season.
“I think the biggest challenge we faced was traveling to compete against a top program,” Rice said. “There is always some chaos when we have to travel.”
The Shorewomen returned home on Oct. 25 to play the Garnet of visiting Swarthmore College and to honor the teams’ nine seniors for Senior Day.
Swarthmore outshot their host in the first half, 4-3, but both teams went into halftime scoreless. The 0-0 tie persisted into the third quarter, where the Garnet again outshot the Shorewomen.
The WC team came close to scoring 3:44 into the fourth quarter on a shot from McMahon, but her ball went wide to the left. The Garnet scored the first and only goal of the day in the final seven minutes of the game, bumping the score up to a dispiriting 1-0.
The near loss left the Shorewomen at 5-12 on the season and 2-7 in the Conference as Swarthmore edged up to 9-7 and 6-2, respectively.
“We let the Garnet influence the way we played rather than playing our game,” freshman defender Colleen Anson said. “The Garnet was very frantic and pushy, and we sometimes became that way as a result.”
The Shorewomen will play the final game of the regular Centennial Conference season on Nov. 1, when they travel to 13th-ranked Dickinson College.
“The goal for the remainder of the season is to go out with a win against Dickinson and to keep shaking up the conference just like we have all season long,” senior defender Kendal Thomson said.
Photo Caption: The shorewomen celebrated Senior Day on Oct. 25, honoring nine players as they complete their final season at WC.
Photo by Darius Kesey