By Philippe Chauveau
Transcript Reporter
The Ohio Wesleyan field hockey team left Selby Stadium on Tuesday afternoon with 3-0 win over the Earlham Quakers.
The Bishops started strong. Two minutes into the game, sophomore attacker Montana Knapp hit a shot close to the left post to start the scoring for Ohio Wesleyan. One minute later, after a couple of passes into the circle and a number of shot attempts, the Earlham defense was able to clear the ball out of danger.
Ohio Wesleyan put the Quaker defense under intense pressure. With 26 minutes to play in the half, freshman midfielder Haley Savoie had a shot blocked by the Quaker goalie. Three minutes later, Savoie took another shot, this one redirected by senior defender Jenna Ortega into the Quaker net. The score was now 2-0 for the Bishops.
The Quakers made it to the OWU goal for the first time with 21 minutes left in the first half, but the shot that was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Karson Stevenson.
At the end of the half, the Quakers made a push for a goal. They had several blocked shots and three corner shots in a row, but the OWU defense managed the pressure with poise and denied Earlham their first goal.
OWU started the second half strong. There was good ball movement, with runs being made at all times and defensive pressure on the ball carrier. Two minutes into the half, the Bishops had several corners. The Earlham defense blocked each of these shots.
To assert their dominance, senior Sadie Slager redeemed herself for her miss in the first half and scored Ohio Wesleyan’s third goal. Sophomore midfielder Venessa Menerey crossed the ball to Slager, who tapped it into the net. With the score at 3-0 for the Bishops, the Quakers called a time-out.
The Bishops kept the pressure up and with 14 minutes to go in the half nearly scored again with a sequence of four shots at the Quakers goal.
The Bishops maintained their advantage by never slowing down or dropping back, and the result was a victory in which they outshot the Quakers 29 to 9.