The Eastern Mennonite field hockey women made their way onto their home turf to take on ODAC opponent Virginia Wesleyan in a mid-week conference matchup. After a competitive 60 minutes of play, the Royals would come out on top, earning their first victory of the 2021 spring season by a score of 3-2.

The win puts EMU at 1-1 on the young season and the Marlins leave Harrisonburg at 1-2. 

EMU attacked early, scoring in the third minute of the game. Morgan Tricarico (Culpeper, Va./Eastern View) found the stick of Skylar Hedgepeth (Smithfield, Va./Smithfield), who then smacked a shot into the cage for the Royals' first goal of the season. The goal would kickstart the offense for EMU, who then scored again in the 14th minute of the contest. This time, Hedgepeth found the stick of Tricarico, who both proved themselves to be offensive threats early on. 

The offense on both sides would quiet, as both teams would not score the rest of the first period and the entire second period. The Royals found themselves with a 2-0 lead heading into the half, looking to notch their first win of the season against the key ODAC opponent. 

The Marlins would lock down the offensive pressure from the Royals, holding them scoreless through the third period. In the 43rd minute, Virginia Wesleyan would strike, finding the cage off the stick of Hayden Thornbrugh. 

With the clock winding down, the Marlins would tie up the score with a goal from Raquel Kelly in the 53rd minute. 

Overtime loomed over the contest, until Tricarico came through for the Royals, scoring in the final minutes of the game with an unassisted goal in the 54th minute, putting EMU on top again with just minutes left to play. 

Lockdown defense as the clock approached zero pushed the Royals to victory, finishing off the contest with the win at 3-2. 

The Royals out-shot the Marlins 16-10 in the contest, with the large difference being the first quarter where the Royals would shoot six times to the Marlins' zero. 

Juliana Ghally (Aldie, Va./John Champe) added four shots to the offensive effort, with two of them being on goal. Rachel Breslin (Lititz, Pa./Lancester Mennonite) also had two shots on goal in the contest. 

Goalie Ann Ghally (Aldie, Va./John Champe) made three saves while Cassidy Armstrong (Culpeper, Va./Eastern View) made a pair of defensive saves. 

The Royals are back in action on Friday, Mar. 19, traveling to Roanoke College to take on the Maroons in another important ODAC contest. 

Listen to the post-game interview with head coach Ashley Kishorn: