The No. 1 nationally ranked Shippensburg University field hockey team kept its win streak alive after hosting two games at the Robb Sports Complex this past week, improving its record to 15-0.

Shippensburg came from behind on Wednesday to defeat the No. 3 nationally ranked East Stroudsburg University Warriors 3-2. On Saturday, the field hockey team celebrated Senior Day with a 4-0 win against the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Crimson Hawks. 

The Raiders faced a difficult match against the Warriors trailing by two goals until the second half. It was the first time the team was down by two goals all year. 

ESU scored the first two goals in the second quarter. The first one came from senior Allyson Forman, who reverse-chipped the ball into the cage after receiving a pass from junior Kayla Minkon. Warrior junior Kerry Kaufman, with an assist from freshman Alex Eagles, scored ESU’s second goal with a little over two minutes left in the first half.

It was not until the end of the third quarter when the Raiders began to come back. SU scored its first goal after consecutive corner kicks led to a shot at the cage from junior Agus Garibaldi, followed by a successful tip from senior Yasmin De Meyer. 

Shippensburg pushed hard to score again in the game’s final minutes. With another offensive corner and two minutes remaining, Girabaldi received the ball on the insert from De Meyer, dribbled into the circle and tied the game at 2-2. 

Being a more challenging game for the undefeated Raiders, the contest was a true test for how well the team could play, according to redshirt junior goalkeeper Emma Albee. 

“It was really good to know that we can do that because we haven’t been really tested all that much this season besides when we played Kutztown,” Albee said, “so it’s just great that we were able to come out and get the outcome we needed.” 

Coming down to the wire, the Raiders drew the last penalty corner of the game with 14 seconds left. De Meyer inserted the ball to senior Emilia Conners, who then passed the ball to Girabaldi on her left. Girabaldi drove the ball to the cage from the top of the circle to score the winning goal with only seven seconds remaining. 

Girabaldi said, “It was important to just go for it and trust myself and trust the team that we were able to capitalize on that.”

After the stressful win, the Raiders were able to hold onto their undefeated streak. However, head coach Tara Zollinger emphasized the importance of focusing on one game at a time. 

“We’re just so focused on the matchup that we have in front of us knowing that we play in way too tough a conference, and way too tough of a league to be focused on our overall record,” Zollinger said. “For us, it’s about winning the day and winning the moment whether that’s at practice or in a game.”

Saturday, the team faced IUP for Senior Day. Before the game started, Brea Borrell, Ashley Button, Emilia Conners, Yasmin De Meyer, Nya Gilchrist, Josefina Golppi, Taryn Mayer, Kristen McCormick, Alexa Michielsen and Valu Paul were all honored as this year’s SU field hockey seniors.

Gilchrist described the senior class as tightly knit, supportive of one another and demonstrating “really good energy” when they are all together. 

SU and IUP started evenly matched, but after the first half, SU began to dominate the field, scoring two goals in the third quarter. 

The first goal in the match against IUP came from senior Nya Gilchrist after running onto the ball in the circle. Junior Kelly Naudé scored the second goal from a rebound off the IUP goalie’s pads for her first goal of the season. 

In the fourth quarter, Michielsen sent a reverse hit toward the cage to score the third goal of the game with an assist from De Meyer. Freshman Anne Gardner scored with a backwards tip into the cage and was assisted by sophomore McKenna Boyle. 

SU field hockey only has two remaining regular season games. This week the Raiders play back-to-back days when they host Frostburg State on Tuesday and then travel to IUP on Wednesday. 

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