Fans show up and UMW shows out as Eagles shine in Eagle Nation Day

By SARAH GOODNOUGH

Staff Writer

University of Mary Washington’s Athletics Department brought home three more wins from the Saturday games during Eagle Nation Day. The annual festival hosted by UMW Athletics, brings the community together and encourages kids to engage in physical activity. With inflatable games, crafts and competitions, there were plenty of activities to choose from this year.

After the festivities, women and men’s soccer, women’s volleyball and women’s field hockey competed against visiting teams. Women’s soccer topped Marymount with a 4-0 win, women’s volleyball defeated Washington and Lee 3-0 and men’s soccer defeated Marymount 6-0. Unfortunately, women’s field hockey lost 1-0 in a close game against Tufts University.

Midfielder Lauren Brower scored the first goal of the women’s soccer game with an assist by Grace Friedl at the end of the first half. Erica Ganthner, a freshman, scored in the second half with an assist by Christina Carlston. Freshman Jordan Rock, finished the game off with an unassisted score. UMW ended the game with a total of 27 shots, far outranking the visiting Marymount’s 2 shots. The 4-0 shutout took the team’s overall record to 5-4 for the season.

Women’s volleyball brought in a close 3-0 win over visiting team Washington and Lee at Rosner Arena. Junior Leslie Walters scored two kills to put UMW ahead of Washington and Lee, followed by a winning kill by sophomore Peyton Dunow. UMW gained a 10-4 lead in the second game with three kills by Walters.

Men’s soccer played last on Eagle Nation Day and dominated Marymount University six to nothing. UMW started off the game with a score by senior Colin Travis, which he headed the ball in off an assist by Gabriel Soriano. Freshman Jeremy Hokenson tacked on another point with another Soriano assist.

While the women’s field hockey team lost to the visiting Tufts, the fourteenth ranked UMW fought hard to maintain the tied game against the fifth ranked Tufts. Finally, in the first overtime of the game, the Tufts’ Rachel Hamilton made the winning score.

Eagle Nation Day is a great day for the community to come together and watch the UMW sports teams compete. This year’s games certainly proved to be great entertainment for the spectators who came out to participate in the events and support our teams. Field hockey midfield player Erin Kaila commented on the significance of Eagle Nation Day.

“It gets the community more involved with campus and many families out to have fun and play games,” said Kaila. “Eagle Nation Day usually brings many people from the community together to watch the different sports play.”

With UMW Athletics bringing in three wins of the four games played on Saturday, this year’s events did not disappoint.