READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions field hockey team scored two first half goals and never looked back from there as they defeated DeSales 3-0 in rain-soaked conditions on Wednesday afternoon at Shirk Stadium.
With the win, the Lions improve to 6-5 on the season with a 2-1 record in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs of the MAC Freedom Conference fall to 8-5 on the season.
DeSales tallied the initial two shots of the game up close in the circle in the second minute as Lions goalkeeper
Aileen Taylor stood tall early to keep the game scoreless. From there, the Lions dominated possession as they racked up many penalty corner opportunities early. At one point Albright received five penalty corners within three minutes of each other. On the fifth one of that sequence, the Lions would break the scoreless tie when sophomore
Kaley Donmoyer scored her first goal off a deep blast after she received the corner pass from senior
Kasey Neiderer in the 23
rd minute. Albright would then use a penalty corner to their advantage again in the 29
th minute when senior
Tracy Snyder scored her fourth goal of the season on a shot from the top of the circle after Neiderer passed her the ball.
It was all about defense for the Lions in the second half as they continued to prevent chances from the Bulldogs. The closest they got was in the 46
th minute when a loose ball was sitting next to the Lion goalpost that was knocked out by Taylor. Junior
Dennise Greene finished the game off with the Lions third goal of the game in the 61
st minute when she got her stick on the ball just in time after it deflected off the Bulldog goalkeeper. The goal came five minutes after she was denied on a breakaway and was the first of her collegiate career.
The Lions held a 13-3 shot advantage for the game after they limited the Bulldogs to one shot in the second half. Albright also held a wide 17-3 advantage in penalty corners after receiving 12 in the first half.
Taylor earned her fifth shutout of the season after stopping all three Bulldogs shots fired her way in the full 70 minutes of the game. She now has three-straight shutouts at home. DeSales goalkeeper Katarina Polyviou suffered the loss after making seven saves and allowing three goals in the full 70 minutes.
Albright will return to action on Saturday, October 14
th when they will travel to face cross-town rival Alvernia in MAC Commonwealth play at 11 a.m.
