The field hockey team turned in a split weekend, losing to La Salle and defeating Central Michigan on Oct. 14 and 16, respectively. They followed up the two matches with a home weekend honoring their two seniors, back Maya Bentley and midfielder Caitlin Gibson.
In the match against La Salle, the Billikens lost 3-2 in overtime. The Billikens earned the first goal of the game in the eighth minute, when sophomore midfielder Molly Feid launched the ball into the circle from the left to find sophomore midfielder Carly Kissinger, who nailed the crossbar and put the ball in the back of the net. Kissinger earned her fourth goal of the season.
La Salle answered at the tail end of the second half with a cross into the circle and a flick over SLU freshman keeper Meme Dawson.
The Explorers kept the momentum going and broke the tie when La Salle released a pass from the left side and dribbled the ball into the circle for a quality finish.
Just when La Salle thought the game was over, sophomore midfielder Jess Dunlap found the back of the net off a rebound on a restart from Kissinger. Kissinger earned her fourth assist, and Dunlap recorded her first goal of the season.
Unfortunately, the Billikens’ momentum was shortlived. La Salle scored off a corner in the first minute of overtime to walk away with the victory, 3-2.
The women finally saw their hard work and challenging season pay off with a home victory against Central Michigan, 1-0, on Oct. 16.
SLU dominated the first half, registering six shots and keeping Central Michigan at bay with only one shot. Finally, SLU put the only goal of the game in the back of the net. Feid played a ball into the circle, and Kissinger collected it to rip a shot on goal. The Central Michigan keeper made an impressive save, but junior forward Hanna Smith did the dirty work to snatch up the rebound and tap it in the net.
SLU stuck to their discipline on defense in the second half to seal the 1-0 victory.
Central Michigan came out stronger in the latter half of play, firing seven shots on goal, but Dawson and her backline refused to give in to their relentless pressure.
Smith collected the first goal of her career. Feid registered three shots, and Kissinger and junior forward Carli Wolfe took two shots apiece.
The Billikens dropped another conference decision to Davidson, 4-2, on Oct. 21 at Sportport.
Junior midfielder Katie Moss and junior forward Hanna Smith put in one goal each, but the Wildcats consistently kept the upper hand throughout the entire match, refusing to let the Billikens make a comeback.
The women rounded out their home season with a 3-0 loss to Saint Francis on Oct. 23. Even though the women outshot their opponent, 9-7, the Red Flash relied on their accuracy to put three shots into the back of the net.
The Bills will travel to Richmond to take on VCU and Richmond on Oct. 28 and 30 to finish the regular season.
Next on their schedule is the Atlantic 10 Championship on Nov. 4 in Richmond, Va., where VCU will host the tournament.
