The EMU field hockey women suffered a tough loss at home Saturday afternoon, dropping a 2-1 ODAC decision to Randolph-Macon College.  The Royals are now 2-4 in conference play, sitting in seventh place and on the outside looking in for a chance at the six-team ODAC Tournament.  They have just two conference games remaining.

The women came out very strong, earning two corners and firing four shots in the opening 1:31.  R-MC settled down from there and the two teams traded jabs until they coasted into halftime without a score.

The second half belonged to the Yellow Jackets.  The visitors had their own span of 1:31 with two corners and five shots.  In the 49th minute, R-MC got a rebounded stick back for a 1-0 lead.

Eastern Mennonite kept pushing, however, and equalized one minute later.  Jenessa Derstine (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock) took a pass from Mikayla Martin (Colorado Springs, Colo./Lewis Palmer) and lofted a well-placed shot over the goalie's head and into the cage to lock things up at 1-1.

Randolph-Macon nearly scored again just minutes later, but had a cager called off because of a penalty.  In the 62nd minute, the Yellow Jackets did pull back in front, getting a goal in traffic for a 2-1 edge.  The visitors continued to control play to waste away the final minutes and hand EMU the loss.

After holding a 10-6 advantage in shots in the first half, the Royals were out-shot 23-11 for the game, including 15-6 on goal.  Derstine led the women with six shots, including her seventh goal of the season.

Hannah Daley (Lothian, Md./Southern) racked up 12 saves in goal, while defender Mandy Stowers (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) picked up a defensive save.

Eastern Mennonite is now 3-12 on the season as they prepare for Bridgewater College on Thursday night.  Game time for the ODAC contest on EMU's Turf Field is 7:00pm.

Coach Brenda Bechler talks about the loss to Randolph-Macon: