WASHINGTON, D.C. – Catholic field hockey fell to No. 5 Christopher Newport on Wednesday evening, 0-2, in a hard-fought battle against one of the best teams in the country. The Cardinals have now finished their slate of four contests against ranked opponents with one victory over No. 25 Scranton last Saturday.
Despite the loss, Catholic played a well-rounded game. Led on the back line by
Emma Shallow,
Oli Bond, and
Liv Ingram, the Cardinal defense erased many scoring opportunities for the Captains. The hosts battled in the midfield and made timely stops to halt multiple fast break attempts. Catholic allowed just 15 shots to be aimed at their cage, holding the Captains' well below their season average of 24.4 per game.
Freshman goalkeeper
Ella Bowman made her presence known in cage. She made five saves in the first quarter and finished with seven on the day to match her career high. She came off her line on several occasions to intercept passes and create turnovers. The Captains were held to two goals or less for just the fourth time this season to finish below their previous average of 3.25 goals per game.
On the offensive end, the Cardinals created multiple threatening attempts at the cage during the middle part of the contest. Catholic controlled possession in the circle multiple times, earning them the advantage in penalty corners (7-5), and were able to get off six shots.
The first quarter saw Christopher Newport dominate most of the actions with seven shots and three corner opportunities to the Cardinals' none. However, Catholic held strong to keep the score tied at zero after the opening 15 minutes.
The second quarter proved to be the deciding frame as the Captains scored both of their goals within an eight minute span. Maddison Steele struck first with her seventh goal of the season one minute in after Avery Mast initiated a fast break up the left side and found her teammate open across field. Christopher Newport's second goal came off a penalty corner set as Courtney Hughlett sent a pass to Ellie Nuckols for the score at the 7:57 mark.
Catholic's best quarter was undoubtedly the third.
Lauren Keast inserted the ball on the penalty corner four times and recorded a shot in the quarter while
Niki Micciche fired one on target and
Oli Bond had two shots blocked. Despite their attempts, the Cardinals could not succeed in breaking through the Christopher Newport defense.
Christopher Newport improved to 9-0 on the season with the victory while the Cardinals dropped to 5-7. The Captains picked up their fifth shut out of the year while the Catholic recorded their eighth contest decided by two goals or less.
The Cardinals will see Landmark Conference opponents from here on out as they finish the regular season with six contests, beginning with Drew on October 12. The home event is set to start at noon.
