STATE COLLEGE — The State College field hockey team vented a little steam on Thursday, Sept. 5, at home on Memorial Field against Mid Penn foe Chambersburg.
The Lady Little Lions had quite a bit built up after they suffered their first conference setback in a tense, 4-3, overtime loss at Central Dauphin in Harrisburg on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Chambersburg was next, at home, and it didn’t take long for the Lions to start expressing themselves in what ultimately became a commanding 12-2 conference victory.
State College’s Regan Dare began things with a clean tip-in just three minutes into the game, and then Addie Gagnon scored from outside two minutes later to give the Little Lions a quick 2-0 lead.
That was just the beginning, though, as State College really got rolling in the second period.
Ella Tambroni, Lanie Herlocher, Dare and Sadie Kocher all scored in the first seven minutes of the period, and State College was on its way with a 6-0 lead.
Chambersburg made it 6-1 with a goal at the five-minute mark, but Herlocher got that one back almost immediately with an assist from Tambroni.
The outbreak by the Lions gave them a 7-1 lead at halftime and, after three more scores in the third period, an overwhelming 10-1 lead heading into the final 15 minutes.
“We changed up the system a little bit for this game and it worked,” State College head coach Sharon Herlocher said. “We said, ‘Possess the ball.’ We were just trying to keep possession, and we pushed things up and I also asked them to try a couple of different things, and it worked.
“It was really helpful to get that lead, and that was another goal we had. We wanted to come out on fire and stay connected. It didn’t matter who we were playing. Pass the ball to our teammates and get it up the field. It worked really well.”
Two more goals in the fourth period (and one by Chambersburg) set the final score at 12-2 and improved the Lions’ record overall to 4-2 and 3-1 in the Mid Penn.
Herlocher led the team with three goals on the night, with Dare, Gagnon and Tambroni each getting two. Kocher scored one, as did Victoria Castano and Tegan White.
“We are getting better,” Herlocher added. “The whole season we’ve been getting better. That first week we had four games in eight days, and we knew it was going to be tough so we tried to accommodate for it. We planned practices accordingly, but it was still a lot. So, it feels good to be back, and I hope every day is like this.”
The Lions’ next conference games will be against Cumberland Valley and Carlisle, with two non-league games against Lower Dauphin and Mechanicsburg mixed in.
