During the opening weekend of the 2008 field hockey season, it was the Scots’ suffocating defense that enabled them to come away with opening wins against Transylvania University and Centre College. This past weekend, the Scots’ offense shouldered more of the load, but the defense struggled in two close losses on an eastern road swing to New York.
In the team’s first game last Saturday, the team traveled to Ithaca, N.Y. to take on the Ithaca Bombers. The Scots came out firing when Brittany Montgomery ’10 found the back of the net just over a minute into the game. However, Montgomery’s score would turn out to be the lone bright spot of the first half.
The Bombers scored the game’s next five goals, and before the Scots could blink, they found themselves down 5-1 at the half. This was a stark difference from the first two games when the Scots allowed one goal the entire weekend. It was also the first time the Scots had trailed all season.
However, the team came out firing in the second half. Briana Lynch ’11 scored the Scots’ next goal on an assist from Nina Dine ’11. Subsequently, Amanda Artman ’10 tacked on an unassisted goal to cut the Bombers’ lead to a more manageable two goals. However, with just over 25 minutes left in the game, Ithaca knocked in its sixth goal of the game and regained its three score cushion.
The Scots, however, did not fold, as Eileen Barrer ’11 scored on an assist from Artman, who later added another unassisted goal of her own. Unfortunately, the Scots were unable to muster a game-tying goal and Ithaca held on to win the ballgame 6-5. Overall, the Scots produced more shots on goal and managed more penalty corners, but at the end of the day, the Bombers edged out the Scots in the all-important goal column. The six goals the Scots allowed were the most the team had allowed in nine years.
On Sunday, they traveled to Rochester and the offensive onslaught continued on both sides of the field. Within the game’s first 23 minutes, five goals were on the board. While the Yellow Jackets tacked on the game’s first two goals, the Scots wasted no time in getting back the lead. To put the Scots on the board, Barrer knocked in an unassisted goal. Less than a minute later, Lynch scored from the left corner on a pass from Artman.
Ten minutes later, Barrer broke the tie and gave Wooster the lead going to halftime. It was Barrer’s third goal on the weekend road trip and gives her a team-leading five goals through the first four games of the season.
In the second half, however, offense came at a much higher premium. While the Scots nursed a one-score advantage for nearly all of the second half, with a little over eight minutes left in the game, Amanda Case tied the game at 3-3 to force overtime.
During the overtime period, the Scots had a prime scoring chance as Dine intercepted a penalty corner and sent it upfield to Montgomery. Montgomery found Artman, who took the shot but missed wide right.
Minutes later, Rochester took the wind out of Wooster’s sails as Christi Bottcher sent the ball past an outstretched Madalyn Myers ’12 for the winning score. It was a difficult weekend for the Scots, who battled tough this past weekend but fell short by one goal in each of the games.
As good as the defense was in the team’s first two games, it allowed 10 total goals this weekend, forcing the Scots to play catch up for much of the weekend.
In terms of the conference standings, the two weekend losses have no bearing. However, all that changes tomorrow as the team takes on Kenyon College, the team’s main challenger for the North Coast Athletic Conference crown. The game begins 11 a.m. tomorrow.