Lehigh field hockey finishes out season with 3-2 loss to La Salle

The Lehigh field hockey team suffered a tough 3-2 loss against the La Salle University Explorers at Goodman Campus on Sunday.

After a rocky season, with an overall record of 4-14, the Mountain Hawks were hoping to end their season strong on Senior Day. The 3-2 loss was a bittersweet moment for the three graduating seniors Steph Fratoni, Natalie Tacka and Abby Sprinkel. It was the last game of their season.

The game began with sophomore Marissa Glatt and senior Natalie Tacka scoring the first goals of the game, starting the momentum off right for the Lehigh team.

“For most of the game we were really playing together as a unit,” Tacka said. “And we were out-hustling them, and towards the end we kind of got lazy a little bit with our defense. And that ended up hurting us a lot.”

However, she will miss playing with her team and wished nothing but the best for the program.

“But overall for the season, I am proud of my team,” Tacka said. “I am sad that it’s over and I can’t believe it’s done, and today was…bittersweet.”

During the rest of the second half of the game, La Salle managed to answer Lehigh’s two goals with a few of its own. With 5:50 on the clock, La Salle scored one goal, and the Mountain Hawks needed to regroup and refocus. With just 1:20 on the clock La Salle scored its second goal to tie up the game.

With the tension high and overtime on Lehigh’s mind, La Salle had another plan. With only 25.5 seconds on the clock La Salle scored its third and final goal of the game to secure the victory, and Lehigh was unable to respond within the remaining time.

Although she is injured, senior Abby Sprinkel was a huge support for her team and had nothing but positive remarks about her team’s effort and the programs future.

“So over the past four years here, I have loved this team,” Sprinkel said. “I’ve grown up with both Steph and Nat. We’ve been through a lot of good times and a lot of bad times. Overall, I think we pushed through.

“Today did not go the way we wanted, but there was a lot of hustle out there. Seeing everyone play out there in the first half was really nice. I think that skills overall for this team have grown, but going on from here, it’s just going to be that extra hustle and push to keep going. But I think they will do great things.”

Being three-time captain is not an easy task, but Steph Fratoni, handled the task well.

“I’ve just been so grateful to be a part of this team for four years,” Fratoni said. “It’s been an incredible experience and it’s so fun. I am going to miss it so much and I can’t wait to follow and see what they are going to do in the coming years.”