Bison Field Hockey's Comeback Bid Falls Short Against Eastern Mennonite
Oct. 17 – HARRISONBURG, Va. – Despite erasing a two-goal, first-half deficit, the Bethany College field hockey team dropped a 3-2 decision to Eastern Mennonite University on Saturday afternoon.
The host Royals got on the board first in the opening half, using a fast break from Hannah Daley to tally the game's first score. Daley found the back of the net at the 18:33 mark to give Eastern Mennonite the 1-0 lead.
The home team would pad their lead just three minutes later when Megan Bishop posted her first goal of the game on a Mikayla Martin assist, giving the Royals a 2-0 advantage with just over 13 minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bison would begin to chip away at the EMU lead later in the first half. Courtney Gill (Little Egg Harbor, N.J./Pinelands Regional) notched her seventh score of the season as she tipped in a long pass from TJ Solomon (Beltsville, Md./Elizabeth Seton) at the 28:53 mark of the frame to cut the deficit to 2-1. The teams would go into the locker room with the Bison trailing by the same score.
Despite being down at the break, the Bison seemed to outplay the Royals in the half, outshooting the home team by a total of 9-5. The Green & White also held a 5-1 advantage in corners in the frame.
The Green & White opened the scoring in the second half when Angelica Darling (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook ) found the net for her third goal of the season. Solomon was once again involved on the play as one of her shots on goal was deflected in the box. The deflection found Darling's stick and she buried it in the net to knot the game at 2-2 with just over 27 minutes remaining in regulation.
Just seven minutes later, the Royals had an answer, as Emily Musselman tallied her third goal of the season off a pass from Melissa Cox. The goal gave EMU a 3-2 lead with just over 20 minutes to play.
The Bison put the pressure on EMU in the final 20 minutes of the game, outshooting the Royals 7-0 while also taking three penalty corners down the stretch. However, the Green & White could not get past Royals' goalie Kelsey Troyer, who made three saves in the final act.
Despite the 3-2 outcome, the Green & White outplayed Eastern Mennonite on the stat sheet. Offensively, the Bison outshot EMU 23-10, led by eight shots (four on goal) from Solomon. Courtney Gill posted five shots on goal and a score, while Darling netted a goal on two shots.
The Bison will be back in action on Sunday, October 18 when they travel to Bridgewater, Va. to take on the Eagles of Bridgewater College. The matchup is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start.
