After Strong Start, Field Hockey Falters

After starting the season on a scorching-hot winning streak, triumphing in their first five conference games, the young Ladies field hockey team has entered a cold spell, dropping four of their last six games. But with their 4-2 victory over Wittenberg University on Saturday, their odds of entering the four-team North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) tournament look good.

“We’ve been through a little bit of a lull, I would say, but we’re back on top of it,” Head Coach Jacque DeMarco said.  “It has to do a little bit with youth, a little with the fact that you have to try to talk with each other to support one another, and they’re getting back on that track.”  
After losing tough games to DePauw University and Ohio Weseleyan University, with a win against Earlham College in between, the team responded with their emphatic victory over Wittenberg.

“They’ve really shown me that they can fight, and that was really nice to see on Saturday.  That’s the team I want to see every day, and that’s what they’re working on,” DeMarco said.

At 7-4 in the NCAC, and three conference games to play before the end of the regular season, the team’s performance in these final games will make or break their season.

“In order to make the tournament, we need to win two out of the four games,” DeMarco said. “If we win out, then we have a chance of hosting the first round, which would be awesome.”

The results up to this point in the season have been satisfying for a team made up largely of first years, and the Ladies’ future looks bright. But the season’s not over yet.

“My biggest thing I want to see in the next four days is just seeing them continuing to work together and really just support each other, and if they get tired or things start to break down, that’s when their mental game has to start up, and then lots could happen,” DeMarco said.

A lot happened in yesterday’s matchup against the Denison University Big Red. Denison is right above Kenyon in conference standings, and the Ladies beat them 3-1 in their last meeting.

Although last night the score was not in the Ladies’ favor, with Denison taking a 2-1 win, they were even with the Big Red in shots and had one more shot on goal, and a goal from Leah Jacques ’13 kept the score tied going into the second period.

With the postseason just around the corner, the Ladies will have to fight to be part of it.