Wednesday’s game started slow for the Shippensburg University field hockey team, something contrary to the Raiders’ recent competitions. Despite the turtle-paced start SU pulled out a 4–0 victory over Kutztown University.
It took the Raiders until the 22nd minute to finally score their first goal. The unassisted goal came from junior defender Ari Saytar, her second this season.
Once Saytar got the Raiders on the board, the momentum kept moving.
Bre White jumped on the energy and added another goal. White, scoring on a redirect from sophomore midfielder Molly Stuart, drove to the cage and made a spectacular pass to the middle of the field that ended with SU building its lead to 2–0 before the half.
Stuart finished the game with two assists, both to White.
“During half we talked about what we needed to work on, our quicker passes and harder passes,” White said. “We just wanted to come out even better than the first half.”
SU came out of the break like a whole new team, dominating the tempo of the game.
The Raiders added two insurance goals late into the second half. The first came from junior midfielder Lucinda Kauffman, her first of the season, with a little help from junior forward Tori Ricker, who had the assist.
The next goal came from the White-Stuart duo again. White tallied seven shots on goal throughout the course of the game, two of which found the back of the cage. With Wednesday’s pair of goals, White’s total on the season increased to seven.
The final goal came in the 66th minute of play and put the Golden Bears’ chances of come back out of reach.
The Raiders offensive success was equally matched by their defense. SU senior goalkeeper Carenna Neely notched five saves in Wednesday’s victory.
SU will return to Robb Sports Complex this Saturday as it takes on Indiana University of Pa.
“They have a big hit…and are a very young team,” White said. “We don’t really know what to expect.”
The Raiders can expect a decent challenge from the Crimson Hawks. Despite struggling at the start of the year and having a young team, IUP has been in every game so far this season. IUP’s only victory was a dominate one over Newberry College 18–1 in their first game of the season.
Saturday’s game is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
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