Field Hockey honors seniors’ final games

As the season’s end loomed in the near horizon, the Hopkins field hockey team took to the field against the Gettysburg Bullets this past weekend. On Senior Day at Homewood field, the team looked for an important win to land them a spot in the Centennial Conference Playoffs. Unfortunately, they could not accomplish their goal. With that said, a lack of effort was not the reason.

Hopkins, after falling behind quickly, took control of the game when junior Alexa Lantiere scored to tie the game at one goal apiece. This was her 13th goal of the year. Soon after, sophomore Elena Gresick tacked on another goal on a penalty shot putting Hopkins in the lead for the first time. The game quickly took a turn for the worse after that, as Gettysburg tallied three unanswered goals. The first came in the 15th minute when Kelly Spieker slid a goal past sophomore goalie Zoey Atabek. Kellyann Walley scored the third goal for Gettysburg and two minutes later Kristen Olenick tallied their fourth goal of the game.

The deficit proved too much to come back from as the Lady Jays lost by a final score of 4-2.

“We wanted to come out strong from the start of the game against Gettysburg for our last game of the conference," sophomore Leslie MacManus said. "We planned to score early to put some points on the board in the first half. I felt that although we accomplished this goal, we needed to come out with more intensity and not allow Gettysburg to score any goals early on. We talked at half time about the changes we needed to make in order to regroup and focus on playing our game to win."

“Going into the second half, we made the necessary changes defensively to not let anymore goals in," MacManus said. "However, we were not able to finish offensively despite our many opportunities. Although we did not get the results we hoped for, I believe that we continued to fight for the win until the final whistle.”

This loss combined with the results of other conference games results in Hopkins missing the conference playoffs. The girls are not taking their final game lightly, though.

“I think that we will have to work hard in our last few practices this week before our game on Friday," MacManus said. "We will first need to improve on the basics of the game; that is, passing, receiving and shooting. We will then be able to implement these aspects into our play that will hopefully transfer over into our game on Friday. Most importantly, however, I think that we will all need to take some time to think about how we want to end our season. We need to come out strong right from the beginning of the game in order to set the tone. Once everyone is on the same page, I believe we will be able to work together to play our game and come out with a win in our final game."

This Friday’s game against TCNJ has some sentimental importance to the team as well. Coach Fraser is going for her 200th career win, and the girls are determined to help her accomplish that goal while simultaneously ending their season on a high note.

Although the season is going to be over after Friday’s game, there is an overwhelming sense of optimism towards the program’s future.

“We possess the talent and skills that are needed to win games, make it to playoffs, and potentially win the Centennial Conference Championship,” MacManus said. “In the offseason, we need to tighten up our play and make sure our skills are nothing short than perfect. We need more drive from within ourselves to win and beat our conference rival teams. That being said, we will definitely have to opportunity to go far in the playoffs next season.”

The girls will be traveling to Ewing, N.J. to take on TCNJ in their final game of the year this Friday, Nov. 1. Although this game marks the end of the 2013 season, it also means a long off-season awaits to improve to get them back to the Centennial Conference Playoffs next year.