Last Saturday, the Whitehall field hockey team put their perfect 7-0 record on the line when they hosted Liberty. Despite outplaying the Hurricanes for most of the game, the Zephyrs fell 2-1.

Liberty went up 1-0 in the first quarter on a goal by Tula Sobrinski. Jasmin Abdalla scored the equalizer at 12:10 of the second period on a goal that was assisted by Ally Cook. The Hurricanes scored the go-ahead goal 102 seconds later when Danielle Walz chased down a long pass from Sobrinski and knocked it into the cage.

Head coach Jenn Bodnar summarized the loss.

“Today we had really bad mental lapses on defense which is disappointing and we’ll have to correct those,” she said. “At the same time, we had plenty of opportunities on offense and it was just one of those games where we didn’t find the back of the net.”

While the second half did not have any scoring, it had plenty of drama. The Zephyrs generated five penalty corners to Liberty’s one, but could not cash in. Whitehall’s best chance came at the 9:23 mark of the third quarter when a Hurricanes’ foul led to a penalty stroke. The shot clanged off the outside of the left post and rolled harmlessly out of bounds.

Whitehall’s second half comeback was further thwarted by players receiving cards and being sent off for several minutes. The Zephyrs were assessed three 2-minute green cards and a 5-minute yellow. For their part Liberty also got a green and a yellow. The two teams meet again on October 4. It will be interesting to see if the feistiness carries over to the rematch.

The team’s 7-0 opening stretch was the best of Bodnar’s 16-year coaching tenure. She put the start into perspective.

“We had a favorable beginning of our season with some games where we didn’t have to play our best and we still came up with a win,” she said. “Stroudsburg was huge though (4-1 win on Sept. 9). A lot of respect for Stroudsburg. They dominated our summer league and they beat us pretty handily in our scrimmage. We knew that would be our early test and we rose to the occasion. Our starting goaltender (freshman Lilly Trocki) got hurt and left that game at halftime and we’ve been without her ever since.”

Whitehall’s leading scorers through the first 8 games are Emma Bonshak with 13 goals and 9 assists, Ally Cook with 3 goals and 5 assists, Jasmin Abdalla with 6 goals, and Catherine Hudak with 5 goals and an assist.

The Zephyrs next two opponents are among the tops in the EPC. The team hosts undefeated Parkland Friday afternoon and then travels to Pocono Mountain East Tuesday night. The Cardinals are 7-2 this year but have won 7 straight after starting the season with losses to Emmaus and Easton, arguably the two best teams in the conference.