PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle University field hockey team put together a gritty performance on Sunday afternoon, forcing overtime with VCU, a team that earlier this season defeated No. 11 Old Dominion and who entered with a 4-1 record in the Atlantic 10. In the end, it was a strike from VCU forward Emily McNamara just inside the circle off a penalty corner that broke the deadlock and gave VCU a 2-1 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- La Salle (6-8, 1-4 A-10) had three of the first five penalty corners in the contest, but was unable to work a shot from the opportunities.
- In contrast, VCU (8-6, 5-1 A-10) scored off its second corner of the match as Litiana Field converted in front off a pass from Maite Sturm in the 15th minute.
- The Explorers continued to weather the storm early, with senior Megan Kida coming up with a defensive save in the 18th minute to negate a Ram attack.
- The 29th and 30th minutes saw La Salle work a prime scoring chance off a corner. Senior Mackenzie Karcher had her initial shot saved by the VCU goalkeeper, but a foul on the Rams gave La Salle a penalty stroke opportunity.
- Junior Amanda Chapin took the stroke but pulled her shot wide as VCU held on to its 1-0 lead.
- Just over a minute later, junior Chloe Lucky picked up her classmate with the equalizing tally off a pass from Karcher.
- The match would head into halftime knotted at 1-1, and remained that way despite a 6-1 edge for the Rams in shots.
- Sophomore goalkeeper Emelynn Sneary recorded two key saves down the stretch of the second half to force the extra period.
- In overtime, Kida came up with another defensive save on a point-blank shot by McNamara.
- But McNamara, who entered the weekend leading all NCAA Division I players in goals per game, finally broke through to close out the hard-fought match.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- McNamara had a game-high eight shots, including five on frame, to lead VCU.
- The Rams held a 16-5 edge in shots for the match and a 12-6 advantage in penalty corners.
- Sneary closed with eight saves in goal for the Explorers.
UP NEXT
- La Salle returns to action on Sunday, Oct. 21 against Davidson. The contest at Hank DeVincent Field is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. The match will also mark Senior Day, with three Explorers (Kida, Karcher and Logan Oh) being honored prior to the game.