field hockey leaves terror dazed

Soccer Teams Sweep Washington At the start of the day, the Muhlenberg soccer teams had never lost to Washington, and they still haven’t. The women started the doubleheader with a 5-0 shutout of the Shorewomen, and the men finished things off with a 3-0 victory. It was a day for firsts in the women’s game, as the Mules remained undefeated in the Centennial Conference. Sophomores Christine Schaefer and Jennifer Lynch each scored her first career goal, and junior Stacey Zimmer recorded her first career point on an assist, helping the Mules (6-2-3, 3-0-1) to their biggest road shutout since a 10-0 blanking of Wilkes in 1994. Muhlenberg has never lost to Washington (1-11, 0-4), outscoring the Shorewomen 36-3 in 10 meetings. The Mules got on the board at 6:49 when Schaefer scored off a double assist from sophomores Ashley O’Grady and Kimberly Hacker. Hacker sent a cross into the box that was tipped by O’Grady and booted in by Schaefer. O’Grady made it 2-0 with a blast from 20 yards, and Lynch scored the third goal of the game when she followed up a shot from Hacker that rang off the post. Freshman Rachael Goldstein made it 4-0 when she followed her own shot off the crossbar for a goal late in the first half. Muhlenberg played its bench in the second half and added the final tally when senior Megan Francis converted Zimmer’s pass for her first goal in two years with 4:34 remaining. Click here for box score. The Mule men have traditionally struggled at Washington; their last three trips there resulted in three one-goal wins, one in overtime. This one came a little easier, however. Muhlenberg outshot the Shoremen (3-8, 0-5) by a 19-5 margin and got a goal in each half from sophomore Eric Miller. The Mules, 19-0-2 all-time against Washington, took a 1-0 lead with 6:29 left in the first half when senior Jonathan Kliewer played a ball ahead to Miller in transition. The goalkeeper came out of the box to cut off Miller, but Miller shot the ball past him for his second goal of the season. Miller gave Muhlenberg a 2-0 advantage with a goal at 54:40 off a pass in the box from junior Billy Dalton. Sophomore Eric Gonzalez completed the scoring with his first career goal from the top of the box at 85:34. Click here for box score.

Midway through the second half of the Muhlenberg field hockey team’s 4-0 win against McDaniel, senior Lauren Rutt took a ball to the head and fell to the turf.

“I knew after a couple of seconds I’d be all right,” she said after the game. “When I first opened my eyes everything was a little bit wavy.”

That’s exactly how the Green Terror must have

Sophomore Tara Cohn nearly scored a goal for the second straight game, but her second-half shot was poked out of the cage at the last second by a Green Terror player.

felt after getting ambushed by the Mules in a matchup of 2006 Centennial Conference semifinalists trying to establish themselves as legitimate contenders this season.

Muhlenberg (9-3, 5-0) came into the game off to its best CC start ever, but its first four wins came against teams that started the day a combined 0-16 in the league. McDaniel, meanwhile, came in with three of its six losses to nationally ranked teams.

“We’re kind of working from the bottom up in the standings, so our push to the end has to be strong,” said Rutt. “But you have to be happy at 5-0.”

The Mules had to be happy with their play against the Green Terror (5-7, 3-2), particularly their execution on penalty corners. Muhlenberg scored on its first corner of the game, with 20:33 left in the first half. After Nikki Rhoads’ initial shot was blocked, Rutt passed the rebound back to Rhoads at the top of the circle, and her second shot was tipped in by sophomore Nicki Notarianni.

Shortly before halftime, the Mules doubled their lead on another corner, with senior Kelly Shetron deflecting in Rhoads’ shot at the left post. At that point, the last six goals in the Muhlenberg-McDaniel series had been scored off penalty corners.

In the second half, the Mules showed they could score in other ways too – and they did it quickly. Just 2:35 into the period, sophomore Kristen Sabia beat the Green Terror goalie with a shot to the near post. And a little more than three minutes after that, Rutt finished an electrifying run through the McDaniel defense with a shot from a tough angle to the far board.

“We came out really hard from the start, and once we got that first goal it just took off,” commented Rutt. “[The third goal] set the tone for the second half, and we stayed strong.”

All that remained was for Muhlenberg’s nationally ranked defense to preserve the shutout, which it did by holding the Green Terror to one shot on goal. The win, combined with Franklin & Marshall’s 3-2 upset of No. 2 Ursinus, left the Mules tied with Johns Hopkins for first place in the CC.
Click here for box score.