I’m sure you’ve probably heard by now through the countless Facebook statuses and tweets, but field hockey is in the NCAAs!!! This is a first for this history-making team, as well as a first for this writer to be this emotional about a sport other than my own. Field hockey’s next game will be this Saturday against Salisbury. The team begins their eight-hour road trip on Thursday.
In order to get to where they are now, the lady Jackets had a phenomenal regular season filled with shutouts, overtime thrillers and the classic hand-grasp-winning motion from our captain Flash before every game. Still makes me laugh no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
But the most exciting part of the season has obviously been what has happened in this past week. It started last Wednesday when FH had to play Skidmore in the Liberty League semifinals. Although it was cold and raining, a ton of fans came out to support these girls as they came back from a 2-1 deficit in the second half. They were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, and overtime began. As overtime was starting, the men’s and women’s soccer teams as well as the football team were walking past Fauver either coming to or from their respective practice. They all stood on the track for the remainder of the game, shouting and cheering on their fellow Jackets. They also succeeded in pissing off the Skidmore parents, who were shouting at the Athletic Director to get them off the track. But to no avail, for as Flash scored the gamewinner, all of these athletes swarmed the field. (Swarmed.. get it? Jacket humor) It was easily the most school spirit I have ever seen, and one can only imagine how amazing it was for the FH team to win in front of that crowd.
They then traveled to William Smith for the Liberty League championships, a first for the program. It was a very close game, but the Herons ended up winning 3-1. Another emotional shocker came a few days later as they found out that their team had received an at large bid for the National Tournament, ANOTHER FIRST IN ROCHESTER HISTORY.
On Wednesday, Rowan University reported to the Hive. Although Rowan had most of the possession for the first 15 minutes of the game, UR quickly stepped it up by firing in two shots by Michelle Relin and Megan Keil. After that, Rowan didn’t stand a chance. Sure they had a few shots on goal, but no save seemed to be a challenge for goalkeeper Madison Wagner. While Rochester stayed calm and levelheaded, Rowan did not. Their coach was pacing up and down, yelling at the officials, yelling at her players, yelling at Rochester, even pushing one innocent ball girl out of her way one time. Needless to say it was apparent who deserved to move on to the next round.
Throughout a very emotional season, these girls have given their all and proven that they deserve to be in the NCAA tournament. Good luck to all of you, go eat some Salisbury steak.