 Junior midfielder Caitlin Counts steals the ball from a Radford playeer in Sunday's Field Hockey game. Photo by Jordan Paris
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by LINDSEY HUNTSINGER
Sports Reporter
The Appalachian State field hockey team fell in a tough 3-1 match to the Highlanders of Radford Sunday.
The Mountaineers took the field with determination against a conference competitor that is leading the East Division of the Northern Pacific Conference at 4-1.
The game remained 0-0 for a little over 12 minutes until Highlander midfielder Courtney Poole broke the scoreless game with a shot that ricocheted off several players and slipped over the head of sophomore goalkeeper Bridgette Street into the Mountaineers’ goal.
“I didn’t even know
what I should have done,” Street said. “The ball ended up bouncing off
my shoulder. Most of the time you wait for the first hit off a corner,
and when you try to get the tip off a corner it turns into a last
second scramble.”
Appalachian continued to fight back, as they took numerous shots and controlled the ball well during the first half.
The
Mountaineers were able to mount an attack with two minutes left in the
first half. The Apps took a shot off a corner that barely missed over
the top of the goal.
But, the defensive battle dominated the rest of the half as neither team was able to score again in the first half.
“We did
well to step up to the ball and our control was good,” Street said. “We
definitely cut down on the number of shots they were able to take, but
we need to work on maintaining pressure all game.”
 Senior forward Kate Garnet attempts to steal the ball from a Radford player in last Sunday's field hockey game. Garnet has scored three goals so far this season. Photo by Jordan Paris
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As
second half play commenced, the Apps attacked quickly as a Mountaineer
game-tying shot narrowly missed the Radford goal only 60 seconds into
the half.
Minutes later the Highlanders doubled their lead with a goal from junior forward Becca Devlin.
Appalachian showed a true never-die spirit as they repeatedly battled with Radford inside the Highlanders’ shooting circle.
“We
talked about coming into this game with a more positive attitude and
get the energy level up and get momentum before the game,” junior
Nicole Morgan said. “So we definitely worked harder to get the energy
level up.”
The Mountaineers surged back with 13 minutes left in the game with a goal from Morgan that cut the Highlander lead in half.
Radford retaliated six minutes later to push their lead back to two as midfield Lara Cariker scored for the Highlanders.
“We
definitely made some changes, and played a really good second half,”
head coach Brandi Alexander said. “We fought back but that one goal
with one minute left really brought us down. It took the wind out of
our sails.”
ASU has one regular season match remaining before they go to the NorPac Tournament in Palo Alto, Calif. Nov. 5.
“We of
course want a win [in the last game],” Alexander said. “But, going into
conference tournament it basically starts a new season. There are
definitely some small adjustments we need to make, and go into the
tournament strong.”
Photos by Jordan Paris | The Appalachian
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