The women’s field hockey team will be looking to continue the unparalleled success they achieved in 2001 and to defend their New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association title this year.
The Red Hawks came from behind in the NYSWCAA championship game last year to win the title for the first time, and finished the season with a school-record 13 wins in 18 games.
“So far [this season] we’ve proven to ourselves that we have the resiliency to be successful,” said Head Coach Bridget LaNoir.
She noted that the Red Hawks would like to work on improving passing, tightening support, and strengthening depth on the field so that when the team competes “other [teams] raise their tempo to play with us. ... If we play every game up to our potential we should have postseason accomplishments within our reach,” said LaNoir.
This year’s schedule of games should help her team to achieve success, since the tough UCAA games are balanced throughout the schedule, not grouped together like last year.
The Red Hawks have the full season to prepare for their toughest opponent, Skidmore, as they do not play them until the last game of the season. The schedule overall is “distributed nicely. We have all of our tough games spread out,” said co-captain Katie Coleman.
Sixteen of the twenty-two players on her roster played with the team last season and only two players graduated last year.
Two rookies that have already become starters on the team based on strong efforts in the scrimmages are Lori Young and Shandra Sherman. “[They’ve] been able to jump right in,” said LaNoir. Coleman expressed a similar sentiment. “We’ve gained a handful of freshmen who without a doubt will more than fill their shoes.”
Key returning players who were named to the All-Tournament team last season include Coleman, who scored the game-tieing goal in the state championship game, co-captain Marie Grieco, defender Tatiana Russell, and goalie Stephanie Hotchkiss, who won 13 games last year.
“Due to the fact that we returned the core of our starting team, we are carrying over the great momentum we built up at the end of last season,” said Coleman. “Now that we have a taste of what we can do in postseason play, we will look to qualify for the NCAA championships.”
To fill their void left by player departures, Semelie, Butler, and Foley on the forward line have already stepped up their game. “They’ve just gotten so much better,” said LaNoir.
The Red Hawks defeated Oneonta 3-0 in their first game of the season on August 30. Their next game is today at Hartwick. The team will play its first home game this Saturday against Westfield on Harkness Field at 2 pm.
