Shorewomen Will Play at Haverford Wednesday in Centennial Tournament's First Round Game

WESTMINSTER, MD -- The Washington College field hockey team defeated host McDaniel College, 3-1, in the regular season and Centennial Conference finale for both teams this afternoon in Westminster, MD. The Shorewomen (10-7, 6-4 Centennial) will be the fifth seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament and will play at fourth-seeded Haverford in the tournament's first-round game on Wednesday. 

Washington actually clinched the fifth and final seed in the upcoming conference tournament about an hour prior to the finish of their game at McDaniel when Haverford put the final touches on a 3-1 home win over Swarthmore.  That result not only earned Haverford the fourth seed, but also locked Washington into the five seed, regardless of the outcome of their game at McDaniel. With their win today, the Shorewomen finished in a tie for fourth place in the conference standings with Haverford, but the Fords won the head-to-head regular-season match-up between the two teams, giving them the fourth seed in the tournament. 

In today's regular-season finale, McDaniel (10-7, 4-6) scored the first goal of the game with 11:20 remaining in the first half as Sarah Meszler scored off a pass from the right enplane from Liz Moir. That goal was the only score of a first half which saw each team record just four shots a piece. 

The Shorewomen evened the game early in the second half when junior midfielder Kristen Wille (Stevensville, MD/Kent Island) sent a pass from the top of the circle to junior attack Gabby Tarbert (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright), who scored with 29:20 remaining in the game. Washington pulled in front minutes later when Tabert scored at the near post off an assist from senior attack Emily Trees (Kensington, MD/Connelly School of the Holy Child) to give the Shorewomen a 2-1 advantage with 25:30 to go. Freshman attack Claire McAuliffe (Clarksville, MD/Glenelg Country School) scored off an assist from junior midfielder Hilary Manion (Trappe, PA/Archbishop Carroll), with 17:09 remaining, to give Washington a two-goal cushion.

After the slow offensive start in the first half, Washington's three goals in the second half came during a second period during which they outshot the Green Terror, 13-4. Washington also had a 13-7 advantage in penalty corners in the game. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Steph Harryman (Churchton, MD/Southern) made five saves in the win for the Shorewomen, while Stephanie Thomson made seven stops for McDaniel. 

The winner of Wednesday's first-round game will advance to play top-seeded Franklin & Marshall in a Centennial Conference semifinal  Saturday.  F&M will also host Saturday's other semifinal between Johns Hopkins and Ursinus, as well as Sunday's championship game. 

The Shorewomen's four conference losses this season all came against the other four teams in the conference tournament and all four were by one goal, including a 2-1 loss to Haverford four days ago.