CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Jillian Tait and Lauren Foster scored second-half goals as the Lebanon Valley field hockey team saw a comeback attempt fall just short in a 3-2 defeat at DeSales University on Wednesday evening in Center Valley.
 
The Dutchmen (10-7, 3-3 MAC Freedom) controlled possession for a majority of the game against the Bulldogs (8-9, 4-2 MAC Freedom) and outshot DeSales 16-7. LVC started the game with the ball and quickly brought possession into the circle. A foul on the Dutchmen stalled the possession. The defense unit got the ball back, and the Dutchmen earned a pair of corners in the second and third minutes. DeSales was able to keep LVC from taking a shot on each corner attempt. The Bulldogs took the first shot of the game in the sixth minute as Ella Weidenhammer made a nice save. LVC earned a corner in the 11th minute as Claire Weidenhammer had her shot attempt blocked before getting to the cage. The Bulldogs were awarded their first corner of the game in the final minute of the quarter and capitalized with the first goal of the game.
 
The teams battled up and down the field over the first five minutes of the second quarter. Foster and Joanna Ehrhart just missed the cage on a pair of shots in the 22nd minute. LVC was awarded a corner following the shot attempt by Ehrhart and Weidenhammer's quick blast after the insertion went off to the left. DeSales added to the lead in the final minute of the half as a shot attempt just snuck into the back of the cage. The Dutchmen quickly got the ball into the circle and earned a corner before the half ended. After a long review to confirm the corner attempt, Weidenhammer had a shot saved before Danika Setlock and Weidenhammer had rebound attempts also saved to end the half.
 
LVC came out firing to begin the second half as Tait had a shot save a little over a minute in. Weidenhammer had a shot saved 30 seconds later, with Tait knocking in the rebound to cut the lead in half. DeSales answered 90 seconds later to push the advantage back to two goals. The Dutchmen had a strong response in the 35th minute with Abby Rodenberger and Tait having back-to-back shots saved. LVC earned another corner in the 36th minute. Gracie Johnson sent the ball into Rebecca Lane, who passed the ball to Rodenberger. Rodenberger then found Foster for her fourth goal of the season to get the Dutchmen back within one. The Bulldogs had a shot blocked and two shots saved over the final nine minutes of the quarter, while Foster just missed the equalizer on a shot that just went wide in the 43rd minute.
 
Lane put a pair of shots on goal early in the fourth quarter that were kicked away in the 48th minute. The Dutchmen's offense pressed for the game-tying goal throughout the fourth quarter. The DeSales defense did an excellent job of not allowing the Dutchmen a shot over the final 12 minutes of the game. LVC had a few chances as they were successful in getting the ball into the circle, but a defender would knock the ball away before LVC had a chance to get a shot off.
 
Inside the Box

• Tait scored her seventh goal of the season while taking three shots. The sophomore has 10 career goals.
• Foster scored her fourth goal of the year and ninth of her career on three shots.
• Rodenberger recorded her fourth assist of the year on Foster's goal.
• Claire Weidenhammer took a team-high five shots and put three on goal.
• LVC put 11 of their 16 shots on the cage.
• The Dutchmen had a 7-2 advantage in penalty corners.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will close out the regular season on Saturday with Senior Day at Arnold Field. The Dutchmen will need to defeat King's College to earn the fourth and final spot in next week's MAC Freedom Championships. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. against the Monarchs, with Senior Day ceremonies to commence prior to the starting lineups being announced.
 
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