In a game that started on Friday and was finished on Sunday morning due to stormy weather in The Natural State of Arkansas, junior Alenka Ferrufino tallied her first career hat trick as the Bridgewater Eagles field hockey team moved back to .500 on the year with a 4-1 victory over Hendrix.
On Friday evening, the game reached halftime before being halted in progress due to a storm system that moved through the greater Little Rock, Arkansas area. At the time, the Eagles held a 2-0 lead over the host Warriors.
The Eagles wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard when Elizabeth Washington ripped a shot at the net and it was turned away by Hendrix net minder Gabryele Pochron before Ferrufino cleaned up the loose ball and put Bridgewater out in front, 1-0, at the 5:55 mark of the contest.
Bridgewater maintained the offensive intensity and earned back-to-back corners prior to junior Taylor Prillaman’s shot being blocked. Prillaman’s shot caromed off of a defender and Ferrufino was once again there to clean up on the missed opportunity as she fired a shot into the net to build a 2-0 lead for the Eagles just over 10 minutes into the game.
After the first two tallies, Bridgewater continued to apply the pressure at the offensive end and later drew a penalty stroke, but sophomore Katherine Ellis’ stroke missed to hold the score at a 2-0 Eagles advantage.
Midway through the opening stanza, Hendrix fired a shot off of the post and sophomore goalkeeper Brianna Bashore later turned away a shot to keep the Bridgewater lead at 2-0 which is how the game would stay until the halftime break.
During the intermission, a deluge of rain and lightning came through the greater Little Rock, Arkansas area and forced the contest to be halted until Sunday morning.
Through the first 35 minutes of play, the Eagles owned an 11-4 advantage in shots and a 6-3 lead in corners.
When the game resumed on Sunday morning, it was Hendrix getting on the scoreboard first, trimming the deficit in half. Erika Jasso dumped a pass off to Raychi Reger and Reger beat Bridgewater net minder Amanda Harper to cut the score to a 2-1 Bridgewater lead at the 42:01 mark of the contest. Harper started the second half for the Eagles after Bashore started the game on Friday evening.
Following the Hendrix goal, both teams had numerous opportunities as the game went back and forth. In the middle portion of the second half, play shifted to the Bridgewater attack zone and Prillaman dished a pass to Ferrufino and the junior capitalized by netting her third goal of the game, propelling the Eagles to a 3-1 advantage in the 60th minute.
Bridgewater kept the pressure on Hendrix and later added an insurance tally when sophomore Marisa Sims scored her first career goal off of a Prillaman helper to push the lead to 4-1 which is how the game would end.
The Eagles fired 18 shots in the contest with Ferrufino’s three-goal outing leading the way. Ferrufino tallied seven shots to lead the Eagles attack, while Prillaman fired six shots and added two assists to aid Bridgewater to its first victory of the season.
Bashore picked up the win after making one save over the opening 35 minutes. Harper finished the game and turned away two Hendrix scoring attempts.
Reger led the way for the Warriors with a goal on five shots. Pachron picked up the loss despite making eight saves.
The Eagles return to action on Saturday at McDaniel. Start time against the Green Terror is set for 2 p.m.