By Alex Newhard
SC Contributing Writer

ESU Field Hockey took on Mercyhurst on Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the PSAC Tournament.

The Warriors defeated the Lakers 2-1 on the strength of goals from Gabrielle Seibert and Jessica Lawville. Junior forward/midfielder Ally Roth had five shots on goal.

Roth came into her freshman year as a starting forward and began her career then with 10 goals.

The following year, she was named an All-American and added 21 more goals to her personal record. Now, as a junior, Roth holds her starting position still as a forward and added 22 more goals along with 9 assists.

She leads the PSAC in scoring and is second in all of Division II. As one could imagine, this has played a huge role in the team’s success over the past 3 years, as she has 53 goals entering the PSAC tournament this year.

As a junior, Roth has broken the school’s points record, previously held by Ashley Kocis with 125 points, with 128 points in her career, with another season to play.

With one more season to play, Roth will hold the record, as well as beat the school’s scoring record next season. Kocis also holds this record with 56 goals in her career.

Roth only needs four more goals in order hold this record as well. “Without my teammates, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to hold the school’s points record, as well as break the school’s scoring record next season.” She said.

Most of the starters this season have been playing together for three years, and understand how to play with one another at this point.

“The juniors and the seniors on the team have been playing together for three years now and understand how each other play.” She said. “The more we play with each other, the better our team is. Our continued success throughout this season is due to the fact that we have played with each other for three years now.”

All of the team’s hard work and dedication this season is portrayed through the way they play both as a team and individually.

“We have never hosted PSAC playoff game so this is extremely exciting that we have been presented with the opportunity to play on our home field.” Roth said.

Email Alex at:
anewhard@live.esu.edu