Photo by Austin Drucker ‘17 | Photographer

Lafayette field hockey had its second straight split weekend, defeating Quinnipiac (1-4) and losing to No. 4 ranked University of Connecticut (5-0).

The Leopards’ weekend began with the comforts of home as Haley Keenan ‘14, Brittany Blass ‘15 and Hannah Millen ‘15 scored goals to help Lafayette defeat Quinnipiac 3-1. Keenan’s goal came just ten minutes into the game.

Holding Quinnipiac to just one goal, goalkeeper Jessica Deutsch is averaging 2.4 goals against thus far this season. One of her five stops against Quinnipiac came against the ever-dangerous penalty stroke.

“Jess really played well,” Hanna Sotiropoulos ‘14 said. “Even when the rest of the team is off their game, she always manages to keep it together.

Lafayette outshot the Bobcats 14-10 but held a disadvantage in penalty corners, 6-9.

UConn is the second top ranked opponent Lafayette has played this season. And for the second straight time against a ranked opponent, Lafayette was shutout 4-0. The Huskies scored early on a penalty corner and ended the first half with another goal. The Huskies outshot the Leopards 17-5, holding a 9-4 advantage in penalty corners.

“I always go out there against these big teams and think they’re going to be so much better than we are, but playing them has made me realize how strong of a team we are,” Deutsch said.

In just over a week, Lafayette will start Patriot League play against archrival Lehigh, but first, host No. 11 Albany and No. 12 Penn State this weekend.

“Playing all these top ranked teams only makes us more prepared for when we start league play,” Sotiropoulos said. “Playing against the best lets us grow as a team and rise to the challenge against them. We know our strengths and we know where we need to improve, and if we can work out the kinks we’ll really be competitive this season.”

But first, there are aspects that need work. Lafayette scored on just three of its 19 shots on goal last weekend. Scoring on two out of every five corners has been emphasized constantly at practice.

“Obviously our overall goal for the season is to win the Patriot League Tournament,” Deutsch said. “In order to get there though, we really just need to work on finishing in the circle and capitalizing on our offensive corners.”