Field hockey ends record-breaking season
While the Mules dropped their final game of the season, the two games preceding it were nothing short of extraordinary. With their 3-0 win over Gettysburg, the 2016 team tied a school record for 14 wins in a season, an accomplishment shared with the 1989, 1990 and 2002 squads. But with a 9-0 win over Moravian last Wednesday, Muhlenberg’s field hockey team, and their 15 wins, earned the winningest season in the 58-year history of the program.
The win against Gettysburg also put the five seniors alongside two other groups to share the third place spot of all-time winningest classes. Earning a four-year record of 46-25, they are now tal tied with field hockey players from the classes of 1991 and 1993. The program record in a four-year span is 50, a title held by the graduating class of 1992. The Moravian game was filled with as many record breaking moments. Rachel Strow ‘17 scored two goals and became the first Mule with 20 goals in a season. She tied the reigning record of 19 in the first half of the game, and then went on to break it in the second. Strow didn’t stop there though, adding an assist on the opening goal to give her a school-record of 47 points in a season. The old record of 44 had been held since 2002. Emily Boyle ‘17 scored seven points with two goals and three assists. With those assists, she tied a school record that Strow had also tied earlier this season. The 9-0 victory was the first time the Mules had scored nine goals in a game since beating Swarthmore 9-1 in 2014. They had not scored that amount of goals in a shutout, however, since beating Moravian 11-0 in 1969. With her shutouts in the both the Gettysburg and Moravian games, goaltender Emma Rosenthal ‘18 earned her eleventh career shutout. That also extended the Mules shutout streak to four straight, with a season total of nine. This win moved the team closer to school records in both offense and defense. With 54 points in the season so far, they are one shy of the record 55 held by the 1965 squad. In addition, they are short one shutout from matching the number one record held by the 1989 team. Muhlenberg secured a first-round playoff bye weeks ago with their win against Gettysburg. As the second seed, they will take on third seeded Franklin & Marshall in the semifinal game this coming Saturday, hosted by first seed Ursinus College.
Muhlenberg field hockey ended their record-breaking season with a loss this past Saturday. Traveling to Ursinus College, the Mules faced off against their arguably toughest competition in the Centennial Conference. The Ursinus Bears (14-4, C.C. 9-1), are currently number one in the Centennial Conference standings and hold the first seed position for the playoffs. The twelth ranked Muhlenberg team gave up their first, and only, conference loss of the season to the Bears.
To earn the top seed in the playoffs, the Mules needed a win, or a loss by one goal and a coin flip in their favor. But the Bears came out strong, taking an early lead a little under ten minutes into the game. Ursinus scored their second and final goal of the game with 17:07 left in the second half, sealing their win and handing a heartbreaking loss to the Mules. It was their first time getting shut out all season.
Photo courtesy of Muhlenberg Athletics.