The Owls achieved a winning record mainly due to the outstanding play of goalkeeper Sarah Dalrymple. The senior has come up big for the Owls between the pipes, posting three shutouts in victories against Fairfield, St. Francis and Georgetown, and also recorded a .76 goals-against average so far this season, good for first in the A-10.
On the offensive side, the Owls have been finding the back of the net often due to junior Bridget Settles instrumental attacking ability.
The forward mustered five goals, two assists and 12 points in five games, leading her team. She earned A-10 Co-Performer of the Week honors last week for her efforts.
Settles and the rest of the Owls look to continue their winning ways later this week as they host Delaware and No. 16 Penn State at Geasey Field.
Saint Louis struggles to taste victory
Heading into its 2010 campaign and tabbed to finish last in the A-10 standings, Saint Louis was expected to struggle, especially with 14 of its 21 players being underclassmen.
Through six games, the Billikens have gone winless and struggled mightily on offense, mustering just one goal, of which came in a 6-1 blowout loss to Ohio.
The offensive play doesn’t appear to be the only weakness for SLU. In its six games, it has given up 25 goals, the most of any team in the A-10, which can be attributed to the very inexperienced defense that features one senior and has left junior goalkeeper Alex LaBarge scrambling in front of her net, being shot at 121 times by opponents this season.
For the Billikens, the first four games of the season, which happened to be on the road, did not seem to favor them. They were outscored 14-1 over the first four games, which included a 1-0 loss to Robert Morris in overtime and may have been their closest sniff at victory so far.
The Billikens were hopeful home support would propel them to victory. Instead, they were dealt back-to-back losses, including an embarrassing 10-0 loss to Northwestern this past Sunday.
Saint Louis will attempt to put a win in the column this week, as they host UC Davis and Central Michigan.
Lock Haven debuts in A-10
The Lock Haven field hockey team has officially begun play as part of the Atlantic 10 conference.
The Lady Eagles are off to a bumpy debut, sitting in sixth place in the conference with a 2-4 record.
LHU opened the season participating in the Wildcat Invitational at New Hampshire, but couldn’t rack up a win, losing 3-1 consecutively to both UNH and Vermont.
The Lady Eagles returned home, where they were shutout 1-0 to Cornell. They tasted victory shortly after, shutting out Saint Francis 4-0 on the road and then defeating Longwood 2-1 at home.
LHU recently traveled to in-state rival PSU, where they were beaten 3-1.
Leading the offensive charge for the Lady Eagles is senior forward Amy Hordendorf. The former Northeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year has totaled 10 points, including five goals on the season.
LHU will take to the road as they travel to Bucknell before returning home to play against Colgate and Appalachian State later this week.
Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected].
