The Blue Jay field hockey team has been flying high in the midst of a five-game winning streak. The team is clicking on all cylinders after consecutive victories against York College, Arcadia University, Juniata College, Albright College and, most recently, Alvernia University.
A few weeks ago, the Elizabethtown College field hockey team was 3-3 and had not played an in-conference game. They are now five games above .500 with a 3-0 conference record and peaking at the right time, with only one-third of the regular season left. Junior Kendra Hudson credits the team’s success to teamwork, saying, “We do not rely on a few players but rather we are a cohesive unit. We are a family.”
In the last five games, the Blue Jays have outscored opponents 21-3, as junior goalie Marlena Johnson continues her work in the cage with three shutouts this year. Sophomore Jacki Hikes stressed the importance of focusing on every game by saying, “Each day we focus on skills and strategies that need to be fixed or improved so that we can come out strong and execute each and every game.” This attitude has paid dividends to the team’s fast start in games. In the season, the Blue Jays are outshooting opponents 102-61 in the first period of games.
Hikes continues to shine having scored in three consecutive games, including three goals against Alvernia, and six goals in the last three contests. Her tally for the season now stands at 13 goals and 32 points. The Blue Jays took down Alvernia 5-1, despite going into halftime tied at 1-1. Sophomore Alyssa Aichele and senior Jackie Zylka added goals along with Hikes’ hat trick and Johnson’s 14 saves to defeat the Crusaders on Wednesday, Oct. 9.
The Blue Jays began the 2013 season with certain goals, and continue to hold true to them. The overall goal is to be the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) champions. There are ways of achieving that goal by focusing on daily progress. These persistent focuses include continually being in better shape, working as a team, communicating and supporting one another. “All of these smaller goals, however, support our biggest goal of the season, which is to win the MAC championship for the last time possible,” Hikes said.
2013 will be the last chance for Etown to win the MAC title due to changing to the Landmark Conference. The field hockey team hopes to go out strong and leave their opponents thankful for the conference switch. It would be awesome to go out with a bang and show our new conference what is in store for them in the following years,” junior Emily Mason said.
With seven games left in the regular season, the Blue Jays have ways in which they hope to improve. “The team can improve by continuing to work hard at practice each and every day because that is what is going to make the difference between a five-game winning streak and a 12-game one,” Hikes said.
This group feels they can do things that other field hockey teams at Etown have not been able to do. Hudson explained her full confidence in the team by saying, “We will win MACs, and we will go to NCAA’s.”
The team has faced two other opponents since Alvernia. First they played Ursinus College in an out of conference game that ended with the Blue Jays losing 1-6. However, the team then faced Stevenson University on Oct. 15, where they sealed another in-conference win. The game’s final score was 5-3, brining the women’s field hockey team’s conference record to 4-0.
