By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: Jennifer Jones
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College field hockey battled tough Wednesday afternoon against Bridgewater College for over 89 minutes before falling 2-1 in a double-overtime heartbreaker. The Eagles are now 4-5 on the year, while Bridgewater moved to 5-2.
The Eagles played without their leading scorer, senior captain Emma Dahmus (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), and worked to find a rhythm early on, coming off a short turnaround.
"Our team started out a little bit disconnected, and it took us a little while," said head coach Caroline Gillich. "Being without Emma for a game is tough and then being without Emma for two overtimes is even a little bit tougher. We certainly had opportunities to score. We had opportunities to put it away. So when we start seizing those opportunities, we are going to see the 'W's" come rolling in."
With just over 14 minutes left in the first half, sophomore Sarah Bilheimer (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) swooped in on a pass back in Bridgewater's defense and took the ball into the circle on the right. Freshman Rachel Weigel (Duncannon, Pa./Susquenita) trailed the play in the middle, took a pass from Bilheimer and popped a shot from 10 yards out. But Bridgewater's Jessica Balsano saved it high to keep the Eagles off the board. She would finish with five saves on the day.
The teams played to a scoreless first half with Juniata outshooting Bridgewater 7-1, 4-1 on goal. Bridgewater came out of the break on the offensive. They earned a corner just two minutes into the half. Taylor Prillaman got a clean shot off after a corner and junior Julianne Jones (Middleburg, Pa./Midd-West) made a great stick save to keep the game scoreless.
She made a save a minute later that created another corner opportunity for Bridgewater and they made the most of it. Caroline Augsburger stopped the insertion and took a shot from just inside the circle. It snuck its way through the Eagle defense and into the cage 3:32 into the second half, opening scoring.
That's when sophomore Cassie Clarence (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) stepped up in a big way. The Eagles earned back-to-back corners and Clarence took a shot on a pass from fellow sophomore Alex Stroud (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) just inside the circle. The strike was her first collegiate goal and tied the game up at 1-all. Clarence finished with a career and team-high four shots.
"We've been working more and more with Cassie to both be a passer and a shooter," added Gillich. "It was a well placed ball that went right into the goal and it was just awesome. The team gained some real momentum out of that."
Juniata pushed deep into the Bridgewater defense, earning two more corners and taking a shot but could not capitalize. Bridgewater turned the tempo in their favor and fired off a few shots of their own before the end of regulation. Jones and the Eagle defense held off the onslaught. She would finish with a game-high and career-tying six saves in 35 minutes of action. Fellow junior Shelby Miller (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts), who started the game and played the entire first half, returned to the cage in the overtimes.
"Shelby handled the first half very well and Julie handled the second half really well," said Gillich. "And then into the overtime, Shelby came up with gorgeous saves as well as scrappy saves which is awesome to see from her."
Miller made a key save with 9:31 remaining in the first overtime but Bridgewater earned the corner after the ball rolled out of bounds. The Eagles defended well and cleared the ball out.
Juniata earned a corner two minutes later with an opportunity to end the game. The Eagles brought it around the right side of the circle and got a shot off from 12 yards out. But a Bridgewater defender stepped in and blocked the ball.
Junior Mikaela Sloan (State College, Pa./State College) subbed into the game at the six minute mark and provided a spark. She slipped in behind the defense almost immediately and received a pass from freshman Elise Onjack (Bangor, Pa./Bangor Area) on the run. Sloan carried it into the circle and made it less than 10 yards away from the cage before a defender caught up and made her pass. The Eagles were able to get a shot off but it was blocked and play continued.
Juniata earned another corner with five minutes left but was again denied.
Augsburger tried to make a run and sophomore Kelsey Leibelsperger (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood) stole it away. The Eagles countered on the attack and earned a corner with three minutes left. But again Bridgewater's defense made the stop. With under a minute in the first overtime, Juniata's defense played keep away from Bridgewater and ran the time out.
Only 1:28 into the second overtime, Augsburger broke away on the right side going one-on-one with Miller. The shot went to Miller's stick side. She dove to make the stop and pushed it back out of the circle.
Bridgewater earned another corner just a minute later. Ausburger took the shot from the top of the circle and Onjack flew in, blocking it. But the Eagles could not clear the ball out far enough and Bridgewater earned a corner, with 11:17 to play.
A shot by Prillaman slipped through the defense and Miller made another diving save on the left post.
"Her game has come a long way as a goalkeeper," Gillich said of Miller. "She has gotten so much quicker and scrappier. Sometimes things just happen so you have to be able to quickly adjust to it. She has really grown into that."
Bridgewater stayed on the offensive, and 40 seconds later earned the game winner. Shannon Strosser mishit a shot that acted like a change up and creeped into the goal just past Miller and a defender. It was her first goal of the season.
Juniata heads into conference play next. The Eagles hit the road to face the University of Scranton on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. Juniata leads the all-time series 5-1. They upset the Royals 5-4 in overtime when the teams met last year.
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