2008 Woodie Awards
Field hockey can't find elusive first win
By Josh Rizzo
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: Sports
Building an athletic program into a winner takes time.
And when a young program plays a tough schedule, there are always some growing pains that come with the territory.
The Rock field hockey faced a tough road from the start, which included a 12-0 loss to defending Division II National Champion Bloomsburg last week before squaring off against C.W. Post in the team's final non-conference match-up of the season.
C.W. Post had its best season in 25 years in 2006, going 11-6, and has shown flashes of a team that's starting to develop into a perennial contender.
C.W. Post (3-0) started off the season by shutting out its first two opponents. The Rock (0-5, 0-2) was unable to bring a halt to that trend.
The Pioneers defeated the Rock 6-0, with the Pioneers offensive attack overwhelming the Rock defense.
Freshman goalie Lisa Belcastro had problems with the offensive onslaught, but did manage to turn away 10 C.W. Post shots.
The Rock then had to face Shippensburg (3-2, 1-2), a team which had lost two games in a row before matching up with SRU.
Shippensburg hammered the Rock, which was overmatched by the more experienced Shippensburg team, 7-0.
The Rock's current 20-game losing streak has been frustrating for senior midfielder Lara Winter.
"The season has been disappointing because we have so many good players and have lost many close games this season," Winter said. "We play in a tough conference and need to stay competitive and win some conference games."
The quest to find an elusive win will be tough, especially with how tough Slippery Rock's looming conference schedule is. Six of the 10 teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference are ranked in the top 10 nationally.
The Rock will travel to Millersville (1-4, 0-3) for a PSAC match this Saturday at 9 a.m.
And when a young program plays a tough schedule, there are always some growing pains that come with the territory.
The Rock field hockey faced a tough road from the start, which included a 12-0 loss to defending Division II National Champion Bloomsburg last week before squaring off against C.W. Post in the team's final non-conference match-up of the season.
C.W. Post had its best season in 25 years in 2006, going 11-6, and has shown flashes of a team that's starting to develop into a perennial contender.
C.W. Post (3-0) started off the season by shutting out its first two opponents. The Rock (0-5, 0-2) was unable to bring a halt to that trend.
The Pioneers defeated the Rock 6-0, with the Pioneers offensive attack overwhelming the Rock defense.
Freshman goalie Lisa Belcastro had problems with the offensive onslaught, but did manage to turn away 10 C.W. Post shots.
The Rock then had to face Shippensburg (3-2, 1-2), a team which had lost two games in a row before matching up with SRU.
Shippensburg hammered the Rock, which was overmatched by the more experienced Shippensburg team, 7-0.
The Rock's current 20-game losing streak has been frustrating for senior midfielder Lara Winter.
"The season has been disappointing because we have so many good players and have lost many close games this season," Winter said. "We play in a tough conference and need to stay competitive and win some conference games."
The quest to find an elusive win will be tough, especially with how tough Slippery Rock's looming conference schedule is. Six of the 10 teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference are ranked in the top 10 nationally.
The Rock will travel to Millersville (1-4, 0-3) for a PSAC match this Saturday at 9 a.m.
Be the first to comment on this story