The Lancaster Bible College field hockey team snapped a five-game losing streak on Thursday, as the Chargers defeated Bryn Athyn, 5-1 at the Donald H. Funk Field. The victory moves the Chargers to 2-7 overall and 1-1 in Colonial States Athletic Conference play, and serves as the program's first-ever CSAC win. Bryn Athyn drops to 1-6 overall and 0-1 in CSAC play with the loss.
 
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible controlled play from the opening whistle, and though they were held off the scoreboard for much of the first quarter, the Chargers had chances time and time again. The Chargers finally converted with 3:01 remaining in the first quarter, as Macy Balmer slipped a pass to Nina Statuti in the circle, and Statuti slid the ball between the legs of the Bryn Athyn goalkeeper to give Lancaster Bible a 1-0 lead.
 
Just 1:06 later, Lancaster Bible earned a penalty corner, and Nicole DeKok fed a pass to Blessing Bowman on the left side of the cage, and Bowman drilled a shot to the short-side of the net and made 2-0 in favor of the home team. The Chargers kept the pressure up in the second quarter, and took a 3-0 lead on Bowman's second goal of the game, as she once again scored off a penalty corner, this time on a pass from Corryn Wolgemuth.
 
Bryn Athyn cut its deficit to two just 3:34 into the second half, as Lexie Dubois scored off a feed from Chantal Farmer to make it 3-1. Lancaster Bible responded later in the quarter, as freshman Macy Balmer scored her first collegiate goal with 2:16 remaining in the quarter, and restored the Chargers' three-goal advantage.
 
Lancaster Bible capped the scoring with 4:15 left in the game, as Brooke Sareyka scored her third goal of the season off a pass from Statuti.
 
Statistically Speaking: Lancaster Bible outshot the Lions, 14-5, including 9-3 in shots on goal…Lancaster Bible also held a 9-3 edge in penalty corner chances…Chloe Campbell made two saves for the Chargers to earn her second win of the season…Balmer finished with a goal and an assist, as did Statuti.
 
The Coach Says: "The girls deserved this win," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Becky Elliott said. "The things that they were working on this week at practice, they were able to execute on the field today. We were also happy with how they regained their composure after a letdown early in the third quarter."
 
News & Notes: This was the first-ever matchup between the two schools in field hockey…Lancaster Bible is now 2-2 at home this season…Prior to Thursday, Lancaster Bible had scored just one goal in the first half of games this season, but had three goals in the opening 30 minutes on Thursday…Five different players have scored for the Chargers this season, including Statuti, who lead the team with four.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible heads to upstate New York this weekend, and will face Wells on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Elmira on Sunday at 12 p.m.