Box Score Stockton, Calif. – Pacific field hockey continued to roll Sunday, defeating the Drexel Dragons 6-1 at home. The Tigers have now won four straight, scoring five or more goals in every one of those games. Three of Pacific's ten highest-scoring games of all-time have come in the last three games as well. Pacific moves to 4-3 on the season, while Drexel drops to 4-4.
The six-goal outburst gave the Tigers 30 goals on the season. That total through seven games in already the seventh-most ever scored in a season by a Pacific field hockey team. The Tigers need just four more goals to match their scoring output from all of last year.
"We've stopped focusing on the opposition," said Head Coach Andy Smith about the recent success. "We're not worried about who we're playing, we're worried about ourselves [and] we're beginning to click."
Laura Pujade picked up her fourth straight win in goal. She faced just one shot in 61:31 of work. The Tigers allowed just one shot until the last ten minutes of the game and ended up outshooting the Dragons 22-7 overall.
"Offensively, we're going to create chances against every team in the country. For us today, we put them all away," said Smith.
For just the second time this year, the opposition scored first on Pacific, with Drexel getting on the board three minutes into the game. The Tigers tried to pass across the circle to a defender but the pass was intercepted on the doorstep by Megan Wiest. Pujade cut off as much of the goal as she could but the bang-bang play gave Drexel the 1-0 lead.
It took until 16:47 for the Tigers to get the game back tied. Marguerite van Wyk put up her fourth of the year off a penalty corner for the goal. Hayley Kilfoil sent the ball in to Ash Rutherford, who left it for van Wyk. The sophomore then shot into the high corner of the net, well out of reach of the goalie.
A penalty stroke was awarded to the Tigers at 29:35 after a scrum in front of the net. Savannah Burns took it, scoring her fourth goal of the year. It also made Pacific 3-for-3 on penalty strokes thus far.
Burns would score again right after halftime, potting a goal 11 minutes into the second half. Burns shot off a corner with her shot hitting off a defender's stick and into the goal. That gave Burns five goals in the last three games to go along with 14 points in that span. Rutherford picked up her second assist of the day, with Emma Leach getting the secondary assist as well.
It was then Rylee Comeau's chance to get in on the goal explosion. Ali Campos shot from the top of the circle with a high shot that found Comeau at the side of the net. Comeau was able to knock the ball out of the air over the goalie's arm for the score. A video review upheld the goal to make it 4-1 Pacific.
Van Wyk's second and third goals of the day sealed the victory, giving the South African Pacific's 10th hat trick ever. All three of her goals came off corners as Pacific scored on half of their eight penalty corners in addition to the penalty stroke.
Van Wyk's second goal came at 52:20. The initial shot off the corner was saved but van Wyk was there for the rebound, shooting it in over the sprawled goalie.
The final goal of the game came at 57:37. Van Wyk carried the ball a couple steps after she received it from Rutherford then launched it low into the net. The assists went to Rutherford and Leach, giving them three points and two points on the day, respectively.
With the one-game homestand over, the Tigers will head back on the road for the next seven games. First up are three games in Missouri, where Pacific will play Long Island Brooklyn, Saint Louis, and Missouri State. The first of those games, against Long Island Brooklyn, will be Friday, September 23 at 2:00 pm.
Make sure to follow Pacific field hockey on Twitter with the username @PacificTigersFH and on Instagram at pacifictigersfh.
