Despite dropping its Patriot League opener against No. 14 Lafayette Sept. 29, the AU field hockey team bounced back to snatch its first home victory against Monmouth Sept. 30.
After the weekend, it’s clear the Eagles love the second half.
Over the last five games, AU has produced 36 shots, scored seven goals and allowed only four in the second half. It’s a big difference compared to the 25 shots, two scores and eight goals against in the first half over that same span.
“With us being a bit of a young team, we’ve had passages where the momentum has kind of gone against us, and it takes us a little while to adjust and kind of recover and get in there,” AU head coach Steve Jennings said. “Once we do, we show we have skills to play with anybody.”
The Eagles (4-7, 0-1 PL) are a young team: 15 of the team’s 22 players are either freshmen or sophomores. First- and second-year players comprise six of the 11 starters as well.
A sluggish first half against Lafayette (8-1, 1-0 PL) was too much for the Eagles to overcome Saturday at Jacobs Field.
The Leopards scored three goals in the first 15 minutes, while the Eagles couldn’t get on the board until the 49th minute.
Carly Atchison scored the lone AU goal, her second of the season.
“We still have to just continue to be a little bit more intuitive when we play,” Jennings said, adding that the Eagles need to anticipate the ball’s direction so they can set up a play more quickly.
With those improvements, the Eagles could look to turn up the offense against their opponents with one month of regular season play remaining.
AU again started off slow against Monmouth (2-10), but was able to recover for the victory.
Trailing 1-0 in the second half, AU received the equalizer from Gina Hofmann, who capitalized on a penalty corner in the 52nd minute.
Shelly Montgomery followed that with an unassisted body-twirling goal in the 60th minute to put the Eagles up 2-1. A great save from goalkeeper Stephanie Burry in the final minute preserved the AU victory.
Montgomery continued her consistent offensive play, as her game winner was her team-leading fifth goal on the year.
“Sometimes it really comes down to the effort over the skill,” Montgomery said following the Monmouth game. “My skill wasn’t exactly on today, and luckily the effort was able to get there.”
Looking ahead, the Eagles will be on the road in a conference clash against Lehigh Oct. 6, before traveling to New Jersey to take on No. 3 Princeton the next day.
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