On September 28 and 29, Stevens Field Hockey traveled to Virginia to compete against Washington and Lee University and Roanoke College. They went up against Washington and Lee first on Saturday and faced a loss by one point after going into overtime. The next day, they redeemed themselves against Roanoke and won by two points.
The game against Washington and Lee had started slow, with zero shots being put in the goal in the first 30 minutes, even with six shots being made on the goal by the Ducks. The game picked up in the second half, with two shots being made by the Ducks early on in the third quarter. Less than 30 seconds in, sophomore Jess Kopernick scored the first goal of the game and her second goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, senior Sarah Korczukowski scored a second goal with an assist from sophomore Kylee Scherer, who added to their lead. After Korczukowski’s goal, junior goalkeeper Lily Wierzbicki kept four shots out of goal until the Generals scored, halving the Ducks’ lead. The Ducks held that lead by keeping Washington and Lee without a shot for almost ten minutes during the final quarter, but the Generals notched a second goal against the Ducks, sending the game into overtime. Eight minutes into overtime, the Generals scored the game-winning goal, ending the game with a score of 3-2, with a loss for Stevens. Despite the loss, Wierzbicki made twelve saves in goal, three more than any game this season, and matched her career high set on November 8, 2023, against Cortland University.
Just like on Saturday, Kopernick scored the first goal of the game six minutes into the second quarter, with zero goals being made in the first quarter. In the first half of the game, the Maroons had only made one attempted shot on goal, and it was stopped by Wierzbicki. In the third period, the Ducks doubled their lead with a goal by Scherer off an assist by sophomore Lauren Flynn, marking Scherer’s first goal of the season. Through the rest of the third quarter, the Ducks held the Maroons shotless while attempting six shots on goal. With five minutes left in the final quarter, Roanoke upset the team’s shutout attempt with a goal off a penalty corner. Despite having a player down, the Ducks scored the winning goal with a shot by junior Elizabeth Sullivan, who was making her season debut, off a feed from Korczukowski. They ended the game with a score of 3-1, with a win for Stevens. Along with the win, Stevens held their opponent to less than four shots on goal for the fourth time this season, held a 9-2 advantage on penalty corners, and made 18 on-target attempts, their third-most of the season.
On the win, head coach Meredith Spencer-Blaetz said, “Today was a full team win! We set up our game plan as a team and executed in a way that will continue to set us up for success moving forward. It was great to get some new goal scorers on the stat sheet as we head into the last few non-conference games.” The Ducks will be seen again back at Hoboken for Senior Day on October 5 against William Paterson University at 11 a.m.
