The Eastern University field hockey team battled Delaware Valley College for the second time in a week. Last Wednesday the two teams played for the top seed in the Freedom Conference playoffs, and the Eagles cruised to a comfortable 4-1 win. Today, with the right to advance to Saturday's Freedom Conference Final on the line, the Eagles escaped to with a 2-1 overtime win. The dramatic finish came in spite of Eastern's dominance of play through out the match.
As they did last week, Eastern dominated control of the ball and field position from the start. They fired ten shots on goal while not giving up any in the opening half. Unlike last week, however, the Eagles struggled to find the back of the cage. It took nearly 34 minutes for the top seed to get the lead. Junior Sarah Garber scored from the right side on a pass from Kim Campbell. Despite a 15-2 edge in penalty corners, the Eagles clung to their tenuous 1-0 edge at the half.
The second half saw the Eagles continue to pound shots at the Del Val cage in an attempt to pick up separation. Time and again, Hollis Hancock, the Aggies standout goalie, stood tall and turned away the Eastern attack. She would register six of her ten saves in the second half. In addition to her shot stopping, Hancock changed the game with aggressive play off her line.
The Eagles kept the ball in their attacking half with great consistency through the closing minutes of play, but a pair of fouls with just over a minute to play gave the Aggies the chance to escape their defensive end. A couple long drives put the guests where they wanted to be, and the fourth-seeded Aggies were able to force a penalty corner with forty seconds remaining. Danielle Heyne made the Aggies one shot of the game count. She took a pass from Mindy Miniconzi and pushed the ball in from a tight angle on the left side of the cage.
The Eagles had one last chance to win the game in regulation as they earned a corner as time expired. The Aggies successfully defended their 27th consecutive corner to send the game into extra time.
Overtime, with both teams playing down players can often be a grueling test of fitness. Today, however, was not such a day, as the Eagles finally scored on a Penalty corner after a quick transition into the attacking end. Christin Haas pushed a backhanded flip over the sprawling Hancock to pick up the 2-1 win for the Eagles. Yvonne Herbster set up the goal with a flip out of the goalies pads to Haas. The assist is the tenth of the year for Herbster.
With this afternoon's win, the Eagles return home on Saturday for the Freedom Conference Final against King's College. Game time is yet to be determined.
