Jonathan French
Assistant Director of Communications and Media
jfrench@transy.edu

LEXINGTON, KY - The Transylvania  Pioneers Field Hockey team started NCAC play this weekend, with two games on the road back in the Northeast. The Pioneers played two games in Boston earlier this season, and came back home with two wins. With hopes to repeat, the Pios faced off against Allegheny and Washington and Jefferson.

The first match of the weekend against Allegheny was a battle back and forth. Maddy Morgan had the Pioneers first scoring opportunity coming in the second minute, but was just wide. Transy's defense was in full force all of the first period with the first penalty corner of the game coming with just 2 minutes left in the first period. Alleghany came up short in both penalty corners to close out the first period. The second period was every bit of the Pioneers. The two teams exchanged shots in the first two minutes. 3 minutes into the second, the Pioneers had two shots on goal coming from Avery Hoover and Lucy Cohen, all three being saved by the Alleghany goalie. Two minutes later, the Pioneers strung together two more shots, by Cohen and Caroline Seward. In the final seven minutes of the half, the Pioneers offense did not give up. With four penalty corners and four shots being saved by the goalie, the offense came up just short. 

The first corner of the second half came 7 minutes after the opening whistle. The corner taken by Sophia Sparks led to a shot by Maddi Slaughter. The Transy defense came up big with a blocked shot, forcing a penalty corner in the 39th minute. With good transition offense, the Pioneers sprinted to another shot by Sparks forcing yet another save by the opposing goalie. A penalty corner in the 43rd minute led to a shot by Emily Long that was blocked. The defense of the Pios stood strong once again, keeping the score even after a penalty corner with just 13 seconds left in the third period. With 15 minutes left to play, the Pioneers were destined to find the back of the net. Two Transylvania penalty corners that led to two shots being saved by the goalie opened up the final period. Libby Bringard made a huge save in the 53rd minute keeping the score even. The Pioneers continued to keep pressure forcing numerous penalty corners in the final minutes, with multiple shots on goal being saved by Alleghany goalie, O'Toole. After 60 minutes both teams remained scoreless, forcing overtime. 

To start overtime, Transylvania found themselves with yet another penalty corner. 4 shots on goal from the Pio offense led to yet another four saves by Alleghany. The second extra time corner for Transy, led to a shot on goal by Sidney Aldridge and a follow up shot by Maddi Slaughter. Libby Bringard made a clutch save in the 64th minute after a shot from a penalty corner. Alleghany scored off a penalty kick goal in the 68th minute, to end the match. 

The second match of the weekend against Wash. and Jeff came just a day later. The Pioneers offense again started hot to begin the match. Sophia Sparks took a penalty corner in the second minute that led to a shot by Maddy Morgan. A minute later the Pioneers took the lead, with a goal from Sparks, assisted by Maddy Morgan. Wash. and Jeff responded with three penalty corners and two shots on goal, both being saved by Pio goalie Libby Bringard. Transylvania had two more corners taken by Cohen in the 8th minute. Bringard made another couple of saves, to close out the first period. A green card was assessed to Cohen just 13 seconds into the second period. Another green card was shown to Maddy Morgan in the 19th minute. The Pioneer defense was remarkable, coming up big with multiple shots blocked and saved. Transylvania continued to apply pressure late into the second period with a penalty corner and two shots on goal. A green card was assessed to Wash. and Jeff's Nakanishi. 

Starting the second half, the Pioneers had a penalty corner in the third minute leading to a shot just wide. A yellow was assessed to Pio Grace Smilek eight minutes into the third period. The Pioneers showed determination and grit with two penalty corners in the 42nd minute and a shot by Maddy Morgan to finish out the third period. The fourth period began with the eighth corner of the match for Transylvania that led to a blocked shot by Sidney Alridge. The Pios kept the score at 1-0 and came away with their first NCAC win, with multiple blocked shots coming from penalty corners in the final minutes of the game. 

Coach Natalie Hernandez was very positive after the weekend and stated "This is a huge weekend for us in program history and I am very proud of our full team effort. The first game of the weekend we dominated, but came up just short and forced a good team to overtime. But this weekend showed us we can and will compete in the NCAC.".

The Pioneers are looking forward to their second home match of the season this Thursday. The match begins at 5:30 PM at Pat Deacon Stadium against another NCAC opponent, Earlham College.