EASTON, Pa. – Following 60 minutes of scoreless field hockey at Rappolt Field on Sunday afternoon, it took just 18 seconds into the extra session for Lafayette to break through and win it over Temple as senior captain Lisa van der Geest and junior Anna Steps connected on the golden goal in a 1-0 victory.
 
Down a player due to a yellow card late in the fourth quarter, sophomore Molly McAndrew pushed up the field immediately at the start of the extra session, with a goal of killing off at least 18 seconds to move the field back to full strength. McAndrew did much more than that, though, drawing a corner that would eventually lead to the winning tally.
 
Steps, the inserter on Lafayette's top attack penalty corner unit, fed van der Geest at the top of the circle, then stepped toward goal and was able to deflect van der Geest's shot into the back of the cage as the Leopard bench erupted to celebrate the only goal of the afternoon. Steps' tally moves the Lafayette win streak to five games and the Leopards have now won seven of their last eight to move to 8-5 overall in 2019.
 
"It was definitely a back-and-forth, pretty even game. Temple is very well-coached, structured, disciplined and powerful, so, for us, we just needed to be patient and keep doing what we were doing," head coach Jennifer Stone said. "We were creating a lot of good opportunities, though those weren't necessarily coming in terms of shots on goal, which we need to continue to work on. But I thought our group overall battled to the end."
 
The tilt was a defensive battle throughout that was played for the majority between the two circles. The teams combined for just 11 total shots with just five on goal between them. Senior Sarah Park was once again stellar between the pipes, earning her eighth victory and fifth shutout of the season with three saves.
 
"Temple's fit and athletic and we knew that their counter and pace on the ball was something we needed to be aware of," van der Geest added. "I thought we managed it pretty well defensively with trying to stop them earlier up the field. Sydney [Woolston] is incredibly fit, fast and athletic, and helped us out in a lot of situations today. I thought we did a good job as a group to keep them out."
 
Lafayette moves back into conference play after 12 days between league matches when it travels across town to Lehigh in its next contest. The Leopards battle the Mountain Hawks in The Rivalry on Friday in Bethlehem with opening whistle set for 7 p.m.