Traub, Chavez Lead Field Hockey into ECAC Semis; Ducks Topple Swarthmore, 5-2
Rob Kulish (Stevens)
SWARTHMORE, Pa. (November 7, 2012) – Junior back
Megan Traub (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) tallied two goals and junior forward
Marguerite Chavez (Oceanport, N.J.) handed out three assists as the Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team rolled into the semifinals of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Mid-Atlantic Championship with a 5-2 win over Swarthmore College Wednesday afternoon.
The third-seeded Ducks will play the winner of the game between second-seeded Lebanon Valley College (11-8) and seventh-seeded Drew University (11-6) which was postponed until Thursday at 4 p.m.
After the sixth-seeded Garnet (9-9) jumped on top behind an early marker from sophomore
Aarti Rao (Chatsworth, Calif.), the Ducks scored three-straight times to take a 3-1 margin into the intermission.
Traub tallied her first of the contest on a blast straight off a penalty corner from Chavez in the 13th minute, and at 20:55 Chavez found freshman midfielder
Dailyn Brook (Cherry Hill, N.J.) for her 12th goal of the season. On the play, Chavez carried into the right side of the circle and delivered a cross to the rookie on the left post for the finish.
The Ducks’ third goal came when senior midfielder
Mary Nikish (Pittsford, N.Y.) drove home a rebound that began on the stick of sophomore forward
Jillian Fiebel (Roxbury, N.J.). The tally was the sixth of the year for Nikish with the assist being Fiebel’s seventh.
Stevens (14-7) opened a 4-1 lead 11:04 into the second half when Chavez inserted to Traub on a penalty corner. It was the duo’s second connection of the game with Traub getting her 11th goal and Chavez dishing out her 10th assist.
Just 3:37 later, the Ducks pushed their lead to four (5-1) when Brook crossed deep in the circle from right to left and Fiebel was there for her 12th marker of the season.
Senior
Sophia Agathis (Bedminster, N.J.) scored Swarthmore’s second goal of the game to close the scoring in the 58th minute.
Senior goalie
Kaitlin McClymont (Corpus Christi, Texas) made five saves to earn the win in goal for Stevens. Capone notched a pair of stops in the loss. Traub led Stevens with four points, while Chavez, Brook and Fiebel all registered three.
Swarthmore ended the game with a 14-8 margin in shots and a 13-6 edge in penalty corners as the game was played in a mix of snow, sleet and rain.
Saturday’s game time and location is still to be announced but the Ducks will definitely play Lebanon Valley or Drew.