FIELD HOCKEY PLACES SECOND AT DISTRICTS

FIELD+HOCKEY+PLACES+SECOND+AT+DISTRICTS

Sara Phillips, Editor

 

The field hockey team placed 3rd in Colonial League and 2nd in District XI. The girls ended with an outstanding record of 16-4 with guidance from head coach Lisa Kienzle. 

“I was most proud of my girls for overcoming different challenges that we faced during the season,” Kienzle said. “Especially thinking about the post season, they were down in semi-finals and fought back. As far as the district championship, they were down by two and never gave up and even tied the game.”  

Captains Allyson Heard (right wing), Alyson Kiss (left wing), and Tatum Strohe (left back), led their team by example. 

“As a captain, I took it upon myself to make sure that everyone had the mindset of togetherness, and to keep the girls focused on our goals,” Kiss said.  

One of the greatest achievements of the season was beating the Slaters’ biggest competitor, Moravian Academy, twice, (3-1 and 1-0). This was a huge accomplishment after being defeated by the Lions last year with scores of 4-1 and 4-0. 

“In order to beat Moravian this year, we had to take extra steps during the offseason,” Heard said. We had practices multiple times a week as well as workouts through Coordinated Health, which benefitted us greatly.”

Six girls were awarded for their abilities demonstrated on the field. Colonial League first team was awarded to seniors Allyson Heard and Alyson Kiss, as well as juniors Morgan Pysher (goalie), and Montana Ott (center mid). Senior Lauren Haffling (center back) was presented with second team as well as honorable mention being awarded to senior Tatum Strohe. 

“I feel honored to be part of such an amazing team and the amount of recognition that we received shows that hard work does pay off,” Ott said. “Though only some were awarded, every girl was needed this season in order to accomplish great things.” 

The girls placed third in leagues after losing 3-2 during a hard-fought game in overtime against Moravian Academy in Colonial League playoffs. 

“During the playoffs, we kept our nerves in check and did not let our emotions get the best of us,” senior forward Crystal Renaldi said. “We played our game the best we could.”

Though the team lost 4-2 in the District XI Championship game to Southern Lehigh, they still placed second, taking home the silver.  

“I think every girl on the team can look back on that game and be proud of how hard we played,” Strohe said. “We were so into the game that we did not even look at the scoreboard until there were fifty seconds left.” 

Although their impressive season has come to an end, the field hockey girls will be sure to continue to make their school proud while improving in the offseason.