Waterville, Maine - The Colby College Field Hockey team returned home after a long stretch of away games to play the Hamilton Continental on Saturday. Colby took their lead early in the game and finished with their first conference win of the season. The Mules now stand 1-5 overall in the NESCAC conference.
Colby came out strong in the first quarter, hungry for their first NESCAC win. Sophomore
Christina Sweeney started off the scoring early in a penalty corner, less than two minutes into the first quarter. Junior
Bridget Everett found the back of the net just two minutes later, recording her fourth goal for the season. The Mules didn't let off the gas, as first-year
Bridget Waters scored her first goal of the season, setting Colby up with a 3-0 lead seven minutes into the game. Hamilton answered back with a goal shortly after, but Sweeney found her second goal of the game late in the second quarter to give the Mules a 4-1 lead heading into the second half.
Both the Mules and the Continentals continued to fight, with Hamilton earning 15 shots in the second half alone, but Colby didn't let up. Sweeny recorded her third goal of the game, earning her first career hattrick, with seven minutes to play, taking a 5-1 lead. Hamilton was able to net one more goal near the end of the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough, and Colby came away with their first conference win of the season. First-year
Ginna Jacoby played the full 60 minutes and recorded a career-high of 21 saves throughout the game.
Head Coach
Allison Whittemore reflects on the Mule's win post-game: "We put in a ton of work this past week unifying our mission, culture, and gameplay, and we knew we had to show up and play the Colby field hockey we've committed to since day one. Having this game be dedicated to pancreatic cancer gave us a bigger reason to play and supplemented that effort in a meaningful way. I'm incredibly proud of how hard this group worked and fought for all 60 minutes." Sweeney also comments that "we came together as a unit and played for a cause greater than ourselves today, which translated through a strong 60 minutes of play!"
Colby is back in action on Saturday at home against Middlebury at 11am.
