Junior Megan Ronan scoring the first game point

Courtesy: SMCM Field Hockey

St. Mary’s Keeps Perfect Record, Shattering

Shenandoah’s Home Win Streak
By: Taylor Novotny

It was a high stakes field hockey game for both Shenandoah University and St. Mary’s College
of Maryland this past Wednesday, as Shenandoah was defending a 14-home game win streak and
St. Mary’s defended their perfect season. Shenandoah was confident, playing an offensive heavy
game. But St. Mary’s pushed back in the last quarter, scoring two goals that pushed them to
victory.

Offensively, Shenandoah dominated with 19 shots on goal, led by Lauren Tyre and Kelsey Jones
with four shots each. Senior goalie for St. Mary’s Kelby Egerland played an outstanding
defensive game, with 11 saves, a career best that landed her the Defensive Player of the Week
title for their conference, the Colonial Athletic Conference.

It was Megan Stevens, assisted by Jessica Donovan, who was able to get past Egerland, scoring
Shenandoah’s game point in the second quarter. Both teams showed plenty of fight in the game,
but it only matters who can deliver in the circle.

It’s easy to tell that Shenandoah had St. Mary’s nervous. Shenandoah had control offensively,
getting eight shots off in the first half and 11 in the second. St. Mary’s started to get sloppy, with
47 total fouls, only three of those resulting in a penalty corner. They did force nine fouls in the
circle but failed to deliver on any of them.

Defense on St. Mary’s brought their all to the table. With seven minutes of game play left after
the final goal by Ronan, they gave it all they had to keep their fire lit. They were clearly not
comfortable with the score, knowing there was plenty of time to tie the game. It’s easy to see
their speed pick up, not letting exhaustion get in the way of the victory. They don’t get lazy; the
team can credit their coach’s out of season training for that.

Head coach Jessica Lanham joined the SMCM team in 2017, coming from powerhouse program
Salisbury University. This season has been the best the programs seen in years. They’ve beat
historically challenging teams, Shenandoah being no exception. Junior defensemen Shie Fleek
credits this seasons incredible journey to the teams out of season hard work and Lanham’s strong
recruits.

“I’m really proud of how our teams been playing. I’ve watched us grow since Coach began. We
haven’t really gotten to conference play yet, that will be the big tell. For now, we’re taking this
energy and running with it,” Fleek said.

Conference play begins October 12, with Salisbury University. This game will really expose how
the team is playing. Salisbury currently sits at number two in the CAC, St. Mary’s at the number
one position.

Shenandoah sits at the top of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, as well. In a similar
situation to the Seahawks, conference play has yet to start for them as well. While both teams sit
proudly at the top of their game, it’s hard to say when they have not met their real competitors
yet. Both teams have had a strong start to their season’s. A fan can only hope they take the
momentum and keep pushing towards the second half of the season.

Game play continues September 29, with Shenandoah at Wesley College and St. Mary’s at
Wilson College.