By Abbie Steinly Contributing writer
The Susquehanna women’s field hockey team fell to Kean 1-0 on Sept. 3 in the championship game of the sixth annual Connie Harnum Classic, which was hosted by Susquehanna.
The loss brought the River Hawks’ record to 1-1, after they had defeated Eastern Conn. State on Sept. 2 in their home opener.
Kean is now 2-0 to start off the season after going undefeated this weekend. This marked the third year since the start of the tournament in 2011 that Susquehanna advanced to the championship game.
“We had high hopes going into the game after our win against Eastern Conn. State. That was a big win for us, so our expectations were even higher for Saturday’s game against Kean,” junior forward Cayla Spatz said.
The team knew that in order to walk away from the game with a win they would have to execute their game plan.
“We were primarily focused on passing the ball well and keeping up our energy and power throughout the game,” junior forward Jordan Burkepile said.
Despite the team’s energy following their first win, the game remained scoreless at the end of regulation play. Susquehanna senior goalkeeper Morgan Ludlam had five saves, while the defense worked hard to keep the Cougars away from the goal.
“After being scoreless throughout the game, we knew that we needed urgency during overtime, because obviously we wanted to be the team to score first,” Burkepile said.
In spite of that urgency, one minute and two seconds into overtime, Kean junior forward Krista LaMaina received a pass from junior midfielder Teresa Carr and scored to win the game for the Cougars.
“We just fell short during overtime,” Spatz said.
She added, “They were able to get a fast breakaway down the field and sometimes those can really kill you.”
Kean sophomore goalie Erin Smith saved the shots attempted by Susquehanna. The Cougars outshot the River Hawks 13-4 throughout the 71-minute game.
The defense from both Susquehanna and Kean was strong in the first half, with each team going into halftime with only one attempted shot. Kean picked up their offense in the second half, attempting 11 shots, but Ludlam kept up and was able to save the five shots on goal.
The River Hawks stay at home this weekend and play against Kings on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. The Monarchs’ record is currently 2-1 on the year.
The players are moving on from their tough loss over the weekend and are looking forward to the next game.
“We take the season day by day and are looking at Saturday’s game and we are fully focused on that,” Spatz said.