HARROGATE, Tenn. - The Lander Field Hockey team got second-half goals from
Dusty-Rose Miller (Crisfield, Md.) and
Iris Van Der Does (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) to take the lead and then pull away from the Maryville Saints for a 3-1 win on Thursday afternoon in a non-conference neutral site game.
Lander improved to 6-4 on the season while Maryville dropped to 4-7.
Lander had the best chance of the first quarter with just over 30 seconds to go, as they were awarded a penalty stroke. However, Van Der Does' attempt was stopped short, keeping the game scoreless going into the second quarter.
The Saints were the ones to break the ice, scoring right at the 19th minute of play to give them a 1-0 lead. Maryville kept the pressure on as they outshot Lander 5-4 in the second quarter, the only quarter the Bearcats were outshot in during the game.
Lander, however, found their breakthrough with just under two minutes to go in the quarter off the stick of
Victoria Hulst (Maarssen, Netherlands) to tie the game at one going into the halftime break.
The Bearcats took control offensively in the third quarter, outshooting the Saints 5-0 but three saves as well as a defensive save kept them off the scoreboard going into the final frame.
The Blue and Gold took the lead just over four minutes into the quarter as Van Der Does found Miller to make it 2-1. Van Der Does then added her third goal of the road trip a few minutes later to give a key insurance goal to make it a 3-1 Lander lead.
The Lander defense clamped down in the second half, only allowing two Maryville shots, both coming in the fourth quarter and both were stopped by
Isabel Elenga (Hillegom, Netherlands) to help preserve the win.
The Bearcats return to the Palmetto State this weekend for another road contest as they travel to Spartanburg to take on the Converse Valkyries. Lander has won the last two meetings against Converse but is 0-4 in their trips to Weisiger Stadium. The first touch for that game is scheduled for 1:00 PM.
