By Staff
The Kenyon field hockey team had a tough week against fierce conference competitors. On Oct. 5, the Ladies beat the College of Wooster 4-1, and then trounced Earlham College 7-1 on Oct. 11 before falling to DePauw University 2-4 on Oct. 12. Last night, the Ladies beat Wittenberg University 6-1.
Even though Wooster entered the Oct. 5 contest with just a 3-3 conference record, Kenyon Co-Captain Sammy Johnston ’15 acknowledged the Ladies never plan to underestimate any opponent on gameday.
“Each day in practice we want to give it our best, and we know we’re up against some really great teams,” Johnston said. “We’re not taking anything for granted.”
Wooster took an early lead, but this was the only goal of the game for Wooster, as four different Ladies got on the scoreboard for Kenyon before time was called.
Cecilia Depman ’15 started the scoring, burying a shot off a Johnston pass to tie the game at one.
With just 30 seconds remaining in the half, Julie Freedman ’15 drilled a tie-breaking goal off an assist from Co-Captain Maddie Breschi ’16.
Breschi and Rachel Hall ’15 closed out the scoring for the Ladies, with Hall getting a goal off an assist from Alex Bair ’14.
Kenyon next took on the Earlham College Quakers, whom the Ladies defeated 4-1 earlier in the season. Like the Wooster game, the Ladies fell behind early, but Hall responded, taking a pass and storming through the Earlham defense before sneaking a shot past the goalkeeper. The pair teamed up for another Kenyon goal five minutes later.
Two minutes later Hall struck again, one-touching a Johnston pass into an unguarded Earlham cage, making it 3-1 Kenyon.
Hannah Drake ’16 added a goal before the half, sending a low-angle snipe into the far side of the Earlham cage.
Seventy-five seconds into the second half, Hall scored again for the Ladies, tallying her 14th goal of the season on a one-timer from point-blank range. Head Coach Jacque DeMarco praised Hall’s athleticism following the sophomore’s four-point performance against Earlham.
“In the two year’s I’ve coached her, she’s really learned her position well,” DeMarco said.
Breschi and Johnston closed out the scoring for the Ladies’ 7-1 victory, with Breschi coming through on a 15-yard howitzer from Depman and Johnston finishing off an assist from Cait Coates ’16, Coates’ first of the season.
After defeating Wooster and Earlham, Kenyon had their biggest test in DePauw ﾖ currently in first place in the conference.
The Ladies were not intimidated and less than two minutes into the match, Breschi rocketed home a 12-yard blast off a Hall corner to give Kenyon their first lead over DePauw since the Tigers joined the North Coast Athletic Conference in 2011.
DePauw almost evened up the match, but goalkeeper Sydney Carney-Knisely ’14 stopped a slew of DePauw shots and preserved the one-goal lead. Carney-Knisely recorded a season-high 12 saves during the match.
The Tigers eventually tied things up on a penalty stroke, and added two more, making it 3-1 going into the half.
Things began to look bleak for the Ladies 17 minutes into the final half of play, until a Freedman shot cut the score to 3-2.
Morgen Barroso ’16 slung a DePauw shot off the Kenyon goal line to keep Kenyon within one late in the game, but the Tigers snuck one final goal in for a 4-2 victory.
Despite the final score, Kenyon put up twice as many goals against DePauw than the Tigers had allowed in all previous eight games. Kenyon remains in third place in the NCAC and will next play at Ohio Wesleyan University on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m.
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