Andrew Anastasio – Sports Writer –
Despite pouring rain Tuesday evening at Jess Dow Field, play was not suspended as the Owls field hockey team (4-8) lost their second consecutive game against conference opponent, Adelphi (5-9).
“It was a lack of discipline, and we weren’t stepping to the ball,” Owls senior defender Randi Schock said. “We weren’t playing hard tonight. I don’t know whether it was the rain or what was going on. We just weren’t there tonight, and nothing was clicking. It was a tough loss.”
Four and half minutes into the game, Adelphi jumped out to a 1-0 lead when freshman Kristen Bagley beat Owls freshman goalie Audrey Dolloff to the side of the net. The goal came off of an assist from junior Jamie Ackerman.
Southern responded in the eighth minute when freshman Bailey McGinnis assisted fellow freshman Lauren Anderson who tied the game at 1-1. Adelphi would strike again just before the half when senior Cassie Cabral capitalized off of a rebound, which gave Adelphi a 2-1 halftime lead.
The Panthers offensive production continued in the second half when senior Erin Grekin scored what would ultimately be the game-winning goal, off of a Molly Cuevas assist.
“We are a team that’s progressing and doing well,” head coach Kelley Frassinelli said. “With the number of younger players we have on this field, they’re doing a nice job, but we are not finishing what we need to finish. Things that we’ve been working on and talked about aren’t happening consistently. That’s our frustration right now. This game was actually a disappointment. We scored two goals in the final 45 seconds, but we’re not doing that in 70 minutes. That’s the frustration for us right now that we’re trying to understand.”
Owls junior forward Sarah Cebry, who recently broke the Southern all-time goals record, recorded another goal during extra time, to increase her season total. Regardless of the final minute score, the Owls eventually fell short, losing by the final score of 3-2.
“I was very disappointed and upset,” Cebry said. “We definitely should have come out a lot harder. Me personally, I know I should’ve worked a lot harder out there, and it was really upsetting that we were unable to come away with the victory.”
The Owls finished the night with a total of 28 shots-17 were on goal. As for the Panthers, they finished with a total of 20 shots, 9 on goal. In order to make the playoffs, Schock said the team must pick up the intensity.
“We need to work hard, and hard work starts at practice,” Schock said. “We need to step harder to the ball and play the full 70 minutes.”
Through the last five games, the Owls have been outscored 15-12. Frassinelli said she expects her team to progress from here on out, especially with a shortened season.
“We have six games left,” Frassinelli said. “We have a 17-game schedule, which is one less game than normal, and we have to make every game count. The expectation is that we are not going to go backwards from here. We have to move forward, and finish what we started and play the 70 minutes but play those first five minutes as hard as we can. Not wait until the end of the game.”
The Owls followed this with a match against Saint Michael’s in the fifth annual ‘Play for the Cure’ game on Saturday, an event organized to raise cancer awareness. The team dressed in alternate pink uniforms.
Southern had defeated Saint Michael’s earlier in the year, but was blanked and fell 2-0. Frassinelli spoke prior to the game, saying that the team must display consistency not just in this game but for the rest of the season.
“We already played Saint Michael’s, and we know what their style of play is, but we have no idea where they have progressed to this point,” Frassinelli said. “Any game, any night, you never know. We just need to play our game, and that’s what we’ve talked about. We need to be consistent in how we play and how strong we play. We need to play a little bit stronger than we have.”