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Field Hockey: EMU drops ODAC opener

Chris Graham

emu sportsAfter 10 games and more than a month of play, the EMU field hockey women finally got into the ODAC portion of their schedule. But their first conference game was similar to their last non-conference one – a great defensive effort punctuated by timely offense, but ultimately not enough.

Wednesday night, it was a 3-1 road loss at Randolph-Macon.

The Royals fall to 4-7 overall and 0-1 in the ODAC. They return to Harrisonburg this Saturday, hosting Washington and Lee at 1:00pm to kick off a busy Homecoming on the EMU Turf Field.

Randolph-Macon got a quick start with an early goal in Wednesday’s game, and made it 2-0 with a score in the 22nd minute.

After not attempting a shot in the first half, Eastern Mennonite made a strong push coming out of intermission. They earned a corner in the 35th minute and Brandy Troutman (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield) had her first shot blocked. Getting the ball back, Troutman went left and shot right, hitting the cage to cut the deficit in half.

The Yellow Jackets got the score back in the 40th minute, however, using a redirect after a corner.

EMU’s defense held firm in the fourth, but they couldn’t find the cage on the offensive end, settling on the 3-1 loss.

Troutman now has three goals and two assists on the season to pair with her ODAC-leading seven defensive saves.

Goalie Ann Ghally (Aldie, Va./John Champe) re-set her career high with 13 saves. The freshman had 12 stops in last Saturday’s overtime loss at Wesley.

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].