Garnet Feel the Niamh for Speed
3/23: Garnet Feel the Niamh for Speed
SWARTHMORE, Pa.— Swarthmore midfielder Niamh Shortt '06 scored four goals, including the game-winner with 4:51 remaining, to send the Garnet to an 11-10 win over Eastern on Thursday afternoon. Swarthmore remains undefeated (7-0) and has won eight straight games, dating back to 2005.
Eagles midfielder Kate Hoy tallied a game-high five goals as Eastern (2-1) suffered its first set-back of 2006.
Garnet midfielder Heidi Fieselmann '06 got the scoring started with her 11th goal of the season 5:15 into the game.
Displaying an effective fast break, the Eagles scored the next three goals (two by Hoy) to give Eastern the early 3-1 lead 6:31 into the contest. Swarthmore countered with a Kelsey Hatzell '09 score off a pass from Megan Sanborn '08 at 9:42 and Shortt's first goal at 10:58 to even the score at 3-3.
Hoy used her speed to transition the ball from one end to the other, making her way to the goal mouth for a clear shot that found the back of the net for a 4-3 lead at 11:11. The Eagles took a two-goal lead two minutes later when junior Christine Hickman finished off a feed from junior Nicole Dorflinger.
Garnet freshman Anna de Regt came off the bench with ten minutes left in the half and rung up her seventh goal of the season at 23:44. Sanborn, the Centennial Conference Player of the Week, tied the game, 5-5, at the 25:45 mark after taking a feed from Fieselmann. The score read 5-5 into the intermission.
The Eagles took the lead at the start of the second half when Hoy turned on the jets again and put in her third goal at 33:34. Eastern moved out to a 7-5 advantage two minutes later when senior Diana Diffenderfer scored an unassisted goal at 35:06.
The Garnet quickly tied the game at 7-apiece; Fieselmann found Shortt cutting to the goal at 36:07 and junior Lindsay Roth put in her tenth score of the season at 36:27.
The Swarthmore offense began to roll, scoring the next three goals to assume a 10-7 lead; Roth scored her second goal off the day of an assist from classmate Katie Crawford at 36:27, Sanborn hit Shortt slipping in from of the net at 40:42, and de Regt fired in her second score of the day at 44:23.
Two scores by the Eagles, one by Hickman and one by Dorflinger, cut the Garnet lead to 10-9 at 51:13. Shortt gave Swarthmore a two-goal cushion four minutes later, putting in her fourth score off an assist from Hatzell at 55:09.
Swarthmore knew no lead is safe with Hoy on the field, maintaining possession as long as they could. Hoy managed to get the ball and outrun the Garnet defenders on her way to a fifth score at 58:06, bringing the Eagles within one.
Swarthmore won the ensuing draw and worked to play keep away with the ball. A fumbled catch led to Hoy scooping up a ground ball at midfield and the race was on. Two Garnet defenders stopped Hoy's run as she got 18 meters from the goal. Hoy dropped a pass over the Swarthmore defenders to a wide-open Erin Fries about six meters from the goal mouth.
Swarthmore goalie Susannah Blair '08 instinctively stepped out to meet Fries and tipped her shot attempt over the crossbar. Sanborn and defender Cara Tigue '06 ran more time of the clock before a scramble for a loose ball resulted in a Swarthmore foul just right of the cage. Eastern tried to quickly one-time the ball in but the exchange was not clean and the horn sounded, sending the Garnet to victory.
The Garnet held a 36-24 shot advantage over the Eagles and scooped up more ground balls (29-17) as well.
Niamh (pronounced NEEV), a captain, finished the game having scored a career-high 18 goals in just seven games this season.
Blair made seven stops in between the pipes for the Garnet, while her counterpart Alesha Bennett was very impressive, making 18 saves for Eastern.
Swarthmore opens Centennial Conference play this Saturday, March 25, traveling to McDaniel for a 1:00 p.m. game. The Green Terror are the last team to hand the Garnet a loss, 18-6, on April 23, 2005.