Davidson College
Radford
Wildcats Take Home Fifth Place in NorPac Tournament with Last-Second 3-2 Win Over Radford
11/8/2008 12:25:16 PM | Field Hockey
FARMVILLE, VA. - In her final game for Davidson, senior Lauren Calve scored the game-winning goal with 27 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Wildcats to a 3-2 victory over Radford in the NorPac Tournament fifth-place game Saturday morning at the Longwood Athletic Complex in Farmville, Va.
After Radford had tied the game at two a little over four minutes prior, Davidson took advantage of a turnover to create a counter-attack that set up a penalty corner for the 'Cats with just over a minute remaining in the game. After senior Tyler Kirkland put the ball into play off the corner, sophomore Clare Perry slid a pass across the circle to Calve, who fired a one-timer into the back of the net for the game-winner, her second out of three total goals for the season.
After the game, senior Sara Stevens was named to the NorPac All-Tournament team for her outstanding play in the team's contests over the weekend. Stevens, who became the first Davidson player to earn All-Tournament honors since 2004 and just the fourth in school history, assisted on the game-winning goal in double overtime to help the Wildcats defeat Appalachian State on Friday night.
For the second consecutive game, Davidson jumped out to a 2-0 lead on their opponent, with the first goal on Saturday coming in the fifth minute of the first half from senior Sarah Addison. After teammate Christine Rua's shot was blocked by the Radford goalkeeper, senior Britti Himelfarb came out of the ensuring scramble in front of the net with the ball, then passed it over to Addison, who knocked in the score. It was her third goal of the season, and Himelfarb's seventh assist, the second-most all-time in a single season. She finishes out her Wildcat career with 21 assists, good for second place all-time in assists in school history.
After taking the initial 1-0 lead, the Wildcat defense stood tall, turning away several penetrations of the circle, and denying the Highlanders' five shots and five corners attempted in the remainder of the first half. Right before the break, Radford had a pair of shots on goal, but senior Brittany Rollek made two saves to keep them off the board.
At the 41:44 mark of the second half, freshman Kathelijn van der Ven dribbled into the circle before letting loose a reverse stick shot that beat the Radford goalkeeper on the right side of the net to give the Wildcats a two-goal advantage. Van der ven, who was the only freshman named to the NorPac All-Conference team this season, recorded her fifth goal of the season, tied for third-most on the squad.
Radford was able to pull even via a pair of rebound-shot goals, with the first coming in the 55th minute when Holly Lojacono gathered a rebound and put the score into the far post for the Highlander's first score. Then, at the 65:49 mark, the Highlanders earned their 12th corner of the game, and after Rollek made the initial save, Radford's Madonna Wadolowski put in the second-chance attempt to bring the count to 2-2, where it stood until Calve's game-winner four minutes later.
Despite being out-shot by a 17-6 margin, the 'Cats made the most of their chances, putting all six of their shots on goal and hitting paydirt on half their attempts. Addison and Calve both recorded two shots apiece, with van der Ven and classmate Krista Jackson each notching one scoring chance. Rolleck ended the game with a season-high nine saves, including seven in the second half.
For the tournament, Addison recorded a team-high three goals in three games, while leading the squad with six shots, all of which were on goal. Van der ven, playing in her first-ever conference tournament, added one goal and assisted on both goals in the opening-round contest with Stanford. Himelfarb also recorded a pair of assists, and Davidson had six different players score at least one goal on the weekend.
With the victory, Davidson brought home the fifth place spot in the tournament, and had two tournament victories in one year for just the second time in school history. They close out their 2008 season with an 8-14 overall mark, tied for the second-most wins in a season since 2000.
