On Sept. 12, Muhlenberg’s field hockey team participated in an out-of-conference game against Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU)-Florham. The competition was set, and both teams were eager to battle for points toward their season totals. Entering the contest, FDU-Florham’s record was 1-2 (wins-losses), and the Mules were 2-2, exemplifying that the match would be an intense challenge between the players.
Throughout the competition, the team outlined their goals with their coach to ensure fluidity and consistency over the course of the match. Erin DiSandro ‘26 emphasized their objectives in commenting, “To prepare mentally, our coach just reminded us to play our game and play ‘Berg hockey because the environment towards the end of the game was getting very tense and FDU was a very physical team. So we all reminded ourselves to not let them frazzle us and keep playing our game and we will come out on top and that’s exactly what we did.” This structure is what propelled them past their expectations for the game.
60 minutes of gameplay was not enough for these teams. As excitement rose, they went into double overtime at 1-1. The first goal was scored by Abba Diglio ‘26 in the second quarter of the game. Diglio’s goal kept ‘Berg alive to enter overtime because FDU tied the score up in the third quarter. She said, “We were energized [going into overtime], but frustrated because we felt like we were already robbed of a goal and it should be our game.” The players came out in overtime, and it was definitely their game.
The Mules wanted to get the “golden goal”. This means that during overtime whichever team scores first wins the final match. All of their hard work was flowing in overtime. Finally, in the last overtime with 1:24 left on the clock, Katie Raab ‘24 scored, ending the game in favor of the Mules off a penalty corner. This was exactly what the team has been working on and striving towards in their games. Diglio commented specifically on the team’s tactical goals before the game, “We wanted to score off a corner, have successful transfers, and capitalize when we can.” The golden goal was directly implemented into the game to successfully stop the clock with the Mules on top. Captain Taylor Canfield gave recognition to her teammates. “Katie Raab and Erin Disandro really stood out to me in this game by constantly trying to create offensive plays. Katie was controlling the middle of the field for most of the game and getting the ball up to our attacking 25 as well as scoring the game-winning goal.” The effort across the board created a positive atmosphere giving Muhlenberg the win for the books.
Most of all, the women’s field hockey team is utilizing this win to motivate them into their next game and future competitions. The team is fired up for the rest of their season, and this game only fueled their energy. DiSandro said, “This win definitely had a huge impact on our confidence as a team and gave us that momentum to keep working hard and playing to our best ability. I think this exciting overtime win really showed us what we are capable of and that we have the potential to make it very far this season. We also had a great win against Moravian before this game, so these two games combined really gave us the momentum and confidence we need as we are about to enter into conference play.”
-Florham with golden goal.){kind=link}