READING, Pa.– Eastern University Field Hockey rallied twice, but ran out of time for a third comeback as the host Albright College Lions scored in the 67th minute to claimed 3-2 season-opening win in a non-league battle of MAC opponents. Eastern (0-1) had a 13-7 edge in shots and a 9-1 edge in penalty corners, but the statistical dominance and control of field position went for naught as the Lions found a late goal against the run of play for the win.
How it happened:
After falling behind 1-0 on a goal in the fourth minute the Eagles equalized ten minutes later.
Macey Talhelm redirected a
Joelle Wash drive on a penalty corner to tie the score. While both teams had chances in the latter stages of the first half, neither team put much pressure on the opponent's cage.
Eastern controlled play out of the gate in the second half. A blocked shot led to an Albright transition chance, and the Lions capitalized on a shot from just inside the circle. The Eagles increased their pressure on the Albright goal and had several chances nearly miss
Ali Balmer hit the inside of the far post from a tight angle and had another of her efforts saved off the line by an Albright defender.
Eastern's efforts were finally rewarded as an Albright defender blocked a shot with her body on the goal line. Balmer buried the penalty stroke to tie the game with 19 minutes to play.
The Eagles had the next four penalty corners and seemed destined to take the lead, but Albright goalie Brynne Shoppe turned away every Eastern attempt the rest of the way, and the Lions found the goal with less than three minutes left.
Coach Azzarano Says:
"We did a lot of good things putting pressure on their goal. We had some chances that where they made some great plays or we we put good shots on the cage and they hit the post, but I think we are going to need to work on being more precise with our shooting and better on our execution in the circle overall."
"We have a very young team and a lot of our new players play very significant roles on the field for us. As we gain experience, I think we can be a team that defends very well and attacks from a lot of different spots. We will grow from this."
Up Next:
The Eagles host Immaculata University on Monday at 4;30 pm. It will be the 39th meeting between the two local programs, but the first since 2007. Eastern is 20-16-2 and has won the last 14 meetings.
