Sports
Delaware Grabs Early Lead, Holds On Against Ohio
By: Nathan Takitch
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The Delaware Blue Hens (1-0) scored two goals in 39 seconds between the 11th and 12th minutes and never relinquished their lead against the Ohio Bobcats field hockey team (0-2), winning at Boston University’s New Balance Field, 5-2.
Shortly after Michaela Patzner and Jacki Coveleski tallied a pair of Blue Hen goals in rapid succession, Ohio tried to start a comeback.
Senior Luli Gomez Teruel redirected a corner from Lauryl Desch behind Delaware goaltender Sarah Scher for a goal in the 13th minute, cutting the Blue Hens’ lead in half.
However, Delaware responded with a flurry of offense in the waning minutes of the first half, putting the next four shots on goal before Meghan Winesett picked up her own rebound and beat Ohio junior goalie Brittany Walker, making it 3-1 at halftime.
The Bobcats never cut the deficit any closer.
The loss was particularly tough to swallow for coach Neil Macmillan’s and his squad.
“We played really well for periods of time but didn’t get anything out of it,” Macmillan said “It’s a bit frustrating, but we know what we need to do to correct things and we are focused on doing just that going forward.”
Each of the three goals scored in the second half between the two teams came by players who had already scored in the first half.
Winesett scored again on a redirect from a corner to open the second half before Ohio’s Teruel put in her second of the contest at 45’.
Teruel nearly recorded a hat trick in the final moments of the game, when her deflection hit the post.
“Luli played really well,” Macmillan said. “She really has a knowledge of how to move and position herself up front and also how to work with her teammates to make things happen.”
Patzner, who opened the scoring early in the game, closed it as well with her penalty conversion in the 56th minute, making the score 5-2.
Delaware’s Scher was the winning goalkeeper in the contest, playing all 70 minutes and stopping five of the seven shots that she faced (.714).
Walker faced nearly twice as many shots as her counterpart, but could only stop eight of the 13 attempts fired against her (.615) in 62 minutes of action.
“Overall I thought [Walker’s] play was very solid,” Macmillan said “The scoresheet might not reflect it, but she made a lot of nice saves. Most of the goals [Delaware] got were off of rebounds or right in front of the net.”
Redshirt freshman Lina Trucco replaced Walker for the final eight minutes, stopping each of the two shots that she faced.
Despite the loss, there is a sense of optimism surrounding the team following their first pair of games this weekend.
“We’ll look at the tape and make the corrections we need to make,” Macmillan said “we have to defend the goal a little better, work our way out from the [defensive zone] a little better, and to avoid breakdowns, but we’ll be fine.”
Ohio will have the week off to regroup before traveling to Louisville, Ky. for another weekend series against the William & Mary Tribe and the Louisville Cardinals beginning on Sept. 7 at 1:00 p.m.