The American University Field Hockey Team (6-6) defeated the Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-5) by a score of 2-1 in front of an ample crowd at the Jacobs Recreational Complex on Sept. 6.
The Eagles opened their season with a slow start, losing their first home game against the Richmond Spiders (7-3) on Sept. 4. With another weekend game coming up, the Eagles knew they had to recover from past losses and get themselves in the win column.
In the first quarter, the Eagles controlled possession while also applying pressure against the Mountaineers. Senior midfielder Emilia Winkler intercepted passes, creating early opportunities for the Eagles to run it up the field.
After back-and-forth competition in the first quarter, the second quarter picked up when Appalachian State received a green card at 14:10, putting American at an advantage. Penalty corners against both teams created additional opportunities and kept the momentum moving.
“We did okay on some of them. The keeper made some plays, and then we had a couple mis-cues,” head coach Steve Jennings said. “So I think we’re getting better and better at those.”
With just under six minutes left in the second quarter, freshman forward Sam Kockx scored her first goal, assisted by senior Sophie Willemse. After securing a one-run lead, the Eagles were awarded a second penalty corner, giving them multiple advantages against the Mountaineers.
The game was a coin toss near halftime when two calls required review from the officials, one resulting in a penalty corner for the Mountaineers. Going into halftime (1-0), the Eagles had to make adjustments to make sure they would keep the close lead.
“We thought they would actually switch to more of a full press, so we were preparing the team for that,” Jennings said. “And then we just thought we needed to be more disciplined in our footwork and our effect on defense to keep our structure.”
Shortly into the third quarter, Appalachian State evened up the score at 1-1. The Eagles started to give up their aggression near the circle, which nearly cost them the game.
The chances they had in the first half were minimized when Appalachian State also picked up their momentum after halftime. Following the goal, the Mountaineers received a penalty corner, and senior forward Jordan Reicher was issued a yellow card, taking her out of the game for five minutes.
Becoming hungrier on the front foot, American was in desperate need of a breakthrough. In the last couple of minutes, they generated two penalty corners.
Making a total of one out of the seven corners helped American take the lead once again. With just under four minutes in the final quarter, Willemse scored the winning goal, assisted by Winkler.
American had 12 total shots, while Appalachian State recorded 8. Sophomore goalkeeper Teagan Harmon recorded 5 saves, which helped secure the Eagles’ victory.
“We’ll keep working this week, and hopefully we’ll take it up to another notch for next week,” Jennings said.
The Eagles return to Jacobs to face the Colgate Raiders (4-4) on Saturday, Oct. 10.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen, Jack Stashower and Gabrielle McNamee. Copy editing by Avery Grossman, Mattie Lupo and Ryan Sieve.
