The Eastern University Field Hockey team repeated last week's performance against the Delaware Valley Aggies with a shutout. Though Eastern was back on it's home field, a stiffer Aggies defense made scoring more difficult. In the end, the No. 8 ranked Eagles earned a 3-0 win.
With 15 shots in the first 30 minutes of play, Eastern looked frustrated by the end of the first half. With 11 minutes left in the half, a dangerous scramble in front of the cage had Eastern's fans already cheering for a goal. But a quick stick from an Aggie defender deflected the ball out of scoring territory at the last second. This play seemed to deflate the always tenacious Eastern offense.
It didn't take too long for their fire to come back. With under three minutes to play in the half, their efforts resulted in a goal from their 11th corner. Christin Haas played a ball to the top of the arc where Kelby Bolton was waiting. She settled the ball with a skilled touch and hit a laser into the side paneling of the cage for her sixth of the year.
"It was due time for a goal," said Bolton. "We needed one on the board. I didn't care who it came from or how it happened, but it was much needed."
The second half did not look like the first; the Aggies came out with renewed energy and pressed more offensively. Though they finished out with four corners and five shots, it was Eastern who capitalized for the scores.
"I thought we weren't going hard to the ball when we needed to in the first half," said Haas. "But we turned it around in the second half and put two more away."
Again, the goals came in the final minutes of play. With six minutes left, Yvonne Herbster hammered three shots to goal and finally came out with a result. Haas inserted another corner to Brittany Moyer, who passed the ball to Herbster on the left side. Herbster found the back of the net through the Aggies defenders.
With less than three minutes to go, Haas made herself dangerous again. She redirected a cross to the back post. Abby Wagner met the cross and buried her shot.
The eagles controlled much of the action through the afternoon as they held a 29-5 edge in shots and took 21 penalty corners to just four for the Aggies. Laura Ressler made four saves to secure her tenth shutout of the year.
"These wins give us a boost. It's exciting to be nationally ranked, but we have to get things done in the conference," said Haas.
The Eagles will stay at home for the Conference Championship game this Saturday. They will play King's College at 1:00 p.m.
"I'm nervous for Saturday, a good kind of nervous," said Bolton. "Last game, we only won by one. They want the title just as much as we do. It should be a battle."
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