WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
GAMBIER, Ohio – Celebrating senior day at Benson Bowl on Sunday morning, the Kenyon College field hockey team (9-6) was victorious, topping the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons 3-1 in front of a spirited audience of fans and families.
Lucy Scott, Lauren Rauschenberger, Hannah Paprotna and Maddie Gwyther were honored before the game as the Owls extended its winning streak to five games, the longest of the season and since the 2021 campaign.
Grace Lane was the standout offensively for the Owls, scoring the first and the last goal. During the winning streak, Lane too is on a five-game streak for multi-point games, rising in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rankings in the process. Lane now has the most goals (13), points (31), shots (69), and shots on goal (39) in the conference. She already has nearly tripled her point total from last season and is undoubtedly the offensive leader for the Owls.
Lane’s first goal came just six minutes into the game, as she fired a shot from the top of the circle off of a good pass from Ella Haskins.
While that was the only action for either team in the first quarter, Concordia (2-10) responded quickly in the second, getting the equalizing goal as Emily Robertson snuck a ball past a charging Megan Lydon off of a nice pass from Katie Quirke to even the game at 1-1.
After two good chances from Molly Laurent and Casey Master were saved by Halli Schneiderwendt for the Falcons, the Owls were finally able to break through as Haskins picked up a Master shot rebound off of a corner and sent it to Maren Lawrence for the go-ahead goal with three minutes to play in the half.
In the first, Kenyon outshot Concordia 6-1 while capitalizing on a 4-0 corner advantage. With Lawrence’s late goal, she is now fourth in the NCAC with nine goals on the season.
The Falcons came out of halftime with a fire that saw the team control possession for a good portion of the second half, but the Owls defense led by seniors Scott and Rauschenberger did not give up a shot in the third and for much of the fourth to keep the score at 2-1.
Lane’s second goal of the game came with just two and a half minutes remaining in the fourth, as she danced through a flock of Falcons defenders, drifted to the right of the net, and beat Concordia’s goalkeeper off of a laser of a shot to the short side, putting the game to rest 3-1.
The Owls ended the game outshooting the Falcons 8-5, but five of Kenyon’s shots were on the net as opposed to Concordia’s two, proving to be the difference today. Lydon only was required to make one save in the win.
Kenyon’s record improves to 9-6 on the year, and the team’s 5-3 NCAC record is fourth in the conference with two matchups remaining on the season. The next is Saturday, October 21 as the Owls travel to Meadville, Pennsylvania to face the Allegheny College Gators at 12:00 pm.
