Drew Clements, Contributing Writer
VCU field hockey defeated Lock Haven University 5-2 on Friday afternoon at Cary St. Field, improving to 7-5 on the season.
VCU took an aggressive approach, launching several shots on target in the first few minutes and staying on the attack. With 7 minutes left in the first quarter, second-year Hannah Zimmerman struck first, scoring off a pass from third-year Lucia Donati.
“When I’m in the middle, everyone just knows their job,” Zimmerman said. “The left knows her job, the right knows her job, the middle knows her job, so just following through is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Lock Haven responded quickly, drawing back to back penalty corners and scoring on the second attempt to tie things up 1-1 at the end of the first quarter.
VCU stayed on the attack into the second quarter, applying pressure and forcing multiple saves by Lock Haven. With just 35 seconds left in the second quarter, VCU struck again, with first-year Julia Spohr scoring unassisted to take a 2-1 lead into the half.
VCU kept the pressure up into the second half, attempting multiple shots on goal. Lock Haven responded with a penalty corner, but VCU secured the ball, and Spohr found the back of the net for her second goal of the game a few minutes later. The Rams stayed on the attack throughout the third quarter, with Zimmerman narrowly missing shots to the right of the goal and later off of the left post.
Lock Haven opened the scoring in the fourth quarter off of a penalty corner, coming within a goal of tying the game back up. VCU failed to convert a penalty corner of their own when Lock Haven blocked a shot by Donati. The Rams quickly answered though, and third-year Ashley Doyle scored to increase the VCU lead to 4-2. Later in the fourth, Zimmerman found the net as well off a pass from fourth-year Mackenzie White, and VCU held on to secure the 5-2 victory.
VCU head coach Stacey Bean highlighted her team’s offensive accuracy, but believes there is still work to be done.
“We were able to convert because we got 15 out of 16 shots on target… that’s by far the highest percentage we’ve had in my time here,” said Bean. “We’ve still got some work to do on the defensive side of the ball, particularly in our defensive third, our defensive fifty, we gotta be more disciplined.”