ANNVILLE, Pa. – The FDU-Florham field hockey team was defeated 3-2 by the Lebanon Valley College Dutchmen on Wednesday night in a non-conference road match in Annville, Pa.
Juniors Kim Davis and Noelle Shirey each tallied in a goal in the contest for FDU-Florham (9-5, 2-1 MAC Freedom).
In the 21st minute of the game, the Dutchmen (8-5, 3-0 MAC Commonwealth) opened up the scoring with a goal from Brittany Fleisher after she drove through traffic from the right side of the circle and shot the ball into the back of the cage.
The Devils trailed 1-0 at the start of the second half, but they quickly erased the deficit when Shirey sent a loose ball in front of the cage past the Dutchmen's goalkeeper, Victoria ByDeley.
On the following Devils' possession, Davis rifled the ball to the top of the circle off of a penalty corner to freshman Makayla Pak. Pak then returned the ball to the sender and Davis scored to give the Devils the 2-1 advantage.
In the 45th minute, the Devils were awarded a penalty stroke and before Davis stepped behind the ball, the Dutchmen made a goalie sub and put in Kendra Moll to protect the cage. Davis fired the shot at the cage, but Moll made the save.
Following another Moll save, the Dutchmen took the ball and worked their way down the field. A nicely placed through ball made its way to Molly Van Leuvan and she dished it off to Lyndee Sheaffer, who finished off the play with a game-tying score.
Less than two minutes later, the Dutchmen had possession once again and this time, they were given a penalty stroke. Rachel Gorman was selected to take the shot and she capitalized, regaining the lead for Lebanon Valley.
In the final 10 minutes of play, the Devils dominated the ball and placed four quality shots at the Dutchmen's cage, but they were all sent away and Lebanon Valley went on to take the 3-2 victory.
The Devils will be back in action when head to Doylestown, Pa. for a MAC Freedom road contest against Delaware Valley University on Saturday, October 17 at 12 p.m.
