After a great start to the 2016 season, the Lindenwood field hockey team has started out with a record of 2-0 for the first time since 2008. The Lady Lions concluded its stay in Louisville with a 5-2 victory over Seton Hill on Sunday afternoon.
Mackenzie Litterst, freshman, received the nod to start at goalkeeper for the Lady Lions for the first 18 minutes of play. She faced three penalty corner shots and allowed one goal at the 10:41 mark before Skylar Starbuck substituted her. The Lady Lions retaliated with a goal coming from the stick of senior
Chloe Bell, her first goal of the season, at the 20:41 mark.
Both teams exchanged possession of the ball various times throughout the half, but the Lady Lions garnered seven penalty corner shots. One of those corners would be converted into a score as
Shelby Easley initiated the shot and scored off a pass from freshman
Caro Theunisz to give the Lady Lions a 2-1 lead. Although the Lady Lions would control the ball mostly for the waning minutes of the half, neither team would register a goal before halftime.
The Griffons attempted the first shot of the second half, but it was blocked. The Lady Lions took immediate control and earned another corner shot.
Virginie Leyssens passed to junior
Karlie Quinn which led to a dish to freshman
Noor Fons for the goal and a 3-1 lead at the 38:15 mark. Six minutes later, Leyssens started a corner shot that nearly duplicated the same scoring play except Theunisz's shot on goal was saved.
Greta Banholzer also nearly scored at the 48:32 mark, but the Griffons barely saved the shot.
The Griffons took advantage of a penalty shot and scored an easy goal to cut the deficit to one at the 49:40 mark. However, the Lady Lions controlled the ball for the next 14 minutes, recording seven corner attempts and two shots. Quinn came through after all those chances and scored a goal off an assist from
Nicole Johnston at the 63:40 mark.
The Lady Lions put the icing on the cake as
Tara Robben continues her strong start to her senior season with her third goal of the weekend off a pass from Fons to give the Lady Lions the solidfying 5-2 win.
In the team stats column, the Lady Lions dominated the corners category with a 17-5 edge and shots on goal with a 10-3 comparison. They have also tallied seven assists from six different players during their first two games. The goalkeeper tandem of Litterst and Starbuck only faced five shots and saved one of the three shots on goal. Fons joins the scoring club among freshmen in which
Bridget Hoogendijk scored two goals in the win over Mercyhurst.
The Lady Lions will remain on the road to take on Belmont Abbey on Friday, September 16 at 2 pm C.T.
