Ronald Hanaki
Staff Writer
No. 2 ESU Field Hockey whipped the No. 10 Mansfield University Mountaineers 6-1 last Saturday, Oct 19 at Whitenight Field. The Warriors have now won seven games in a row and have clinched a spot in the postseason PSAC Tournament.
It was Homecoming weekend and Senior Day so the team honored its eight seniors before the start of the contest.
Seniors lead the way, but the success of ESU Field Hockey is built on five ideas: immediate pressure on the defense, always look to go forward, fast restarts, angular hockey and 360 -vision.
Sophomore Hannah Barbush scored the first goal five minutes into the game, and the Warriors were off to the races.
In the next ten minutes, senior Grace Martini, sophomore Celeste Veenstra, and senior Karly Conway added three more goals to make the score 4-0 ESU at halftime.
Veenstra and sophomore Morgan Mesenbrink both scored in the second half to stake the Warriors to a six-goal lead.
Veenstra’s two goals increased her season tally to 19 goals this season. She is ranked third in the country with 1.27 goals per game.
ESU lost the shutout in the final minute of the game, but it would not matter. The Warriors defeated the Mountaineers 6-1 to remain undefeated in PSAC play.
ESU’s defense and goalkeeping were both outstanding. Senior goalkeeper Maddie Richie is ranked first in the country with a 0.871 save percentage. She is also ranked second in the country with a 0.270 goals-against average (GAA).
Overall, ESU is ranked third in the country with a 2.79 scoring margin and fourth in the country with a 3.18 scoring average.
Senior Grace Martini was ecstatic after the game.
“It feels amazing. I could not be more thankful for the opportunity to play here,” Martini said.
Senior and co-captain Emily Spangler reflected on her experience playing field hockey at ESU.
“I definitely think coming to ESU was the right decision. These girls are my best friends. K.O. [Assistant Coach Katie Ord] and Sandy really believe in our team and me, and they do a lot for us,” Spangler said.
“Mansfield gave us all we could handle, but we really played well. We played four quarters today,” Miller said.
The head coach praised her team’s passing game and overall intensity and was also happy to see some of the alumni come back to support her team.
“It’s always pretty special to see our alums come back. You want them to be proud of how we are playing,” Miller said.
ESU (14-1, 7-0) will play Seton Hill (1-10, 0-6) on the road this Saturday.
Email Ronald at:
rhanaki@live.esu.edu
