UPDATES GALORE!

Hello All,

We apologize for the lack of blogging...we have been busy little bees...errr DUCKS! We are currently sitting 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the Empire 8 Conference. We had 2 big games last week. First we took on Rowan. At the time we played they were ranked 12th in the NFHCA Coaches Poll and we were ranked 16th. We played Rowan here at Stevens and it was an awesome Duck Country event. We were able to wear our Away Jerseys at home and it was a lot of fun. We won that game 2-1. Mallory Swanson, aka Meow, (Empire-8 Co-Player of the Week and Womensfieldhockey.com Division III Player of the week) scored both goals off of great offensive teamwork. It was the first time we beat Rowan AND it was the highest ranked team we ever beat. It was incredible!

Last Saturday we played Ithaca on their grass field. It was our 2nd conference game. We traveled to Ithaca the night before, stayed in a hotel and had a great breakfast. We showed up ready to play and ready to win. Lauren "2nd Gear" Griggs scored the game winner and then Meow put in an insurance goal. We left Ithaca with a 2-0 win!

Tonight we play Drew at Drew and they are a tough opponent. We will get off the bus ready to play and to work hard. We are having tons of fun this season and working hard!

See you soon!

Preseason Shenanigans

Well after a looong summer apart, the team is finally back together!!! This season is already shaping up to be a lot different than the last with a fresh group of 12 new faces. The first night of preseason was a night to remember with everyone learning all about the team and each other. Bonds were formed from the moment we started playing Taboo, Balderdash, and Apples to Apples. For the next couple of days we had a crash course in everything field hockey with double sessions and lots of team meals together (breakfast being the best part of the day). We're lucky enough to be in Hoboken where every once in a while the 100 degree heat was cut with a much appreciated Hudson River breeze. With the summer being in full swing we were bound to have at least one thunderstorm, and when that day came we got to play dodgeball in the gym. Dodgeball is a vicious enough sport on its own, but with our team being as competitive as it is, faces were bound to get destroyed. All this competitiveness in the air was taking a serious toll on our bodies, so everyone was making sure to take care of our bodies and prevent any injury. The training room became our second home, and the trainers became our best friends, second only to Bud who was the best chef in the dining hall.

After a lot of practicing it was time to test our skills against some stiff competition. Our scrimmage day consisted of games against both Division I and Division II teams. It was really great to have the opportunity to work out the kinks in our system and give everyone the chance to play against someone different. The freshmen especially got a lot out of the day since they experienced what it is like to play at the college level. Unfortunately the day did not end on the happiest of notes with one of the other teams players getting injured, but hopefully she'll be okay. For the next couple of days we'll be analyzing the game tape and working on everything that we can fix to prepare for our first game against Haverford in 1 week! See you then :)

-Marguerite & Kara

Camp and PreSeason Excitement!

So many of you may know that this week was Steven's Field Hockey Camp. Jess and Val ran the camp. Liz, Erin, Jessy-Walnuts, Allison-Worm, Meghan, Jill-Bill, and Katie Mo all worked the camp, with Lauren, Ellyn, Mel, Megan Clifford, Kara, Allie-Midget and others popping in to play and help out whenever they were around on campus! We had 6 of our incoming freshman, two high school seniors who showed an interest in Stevens, two daughters of Stevens staff and some friends, and then a group of 15 girls from Old Bridge High School come Sunday-Wednesday for overnight camp. Another incoming freshman came for day camp, along with some girls from River Dell High School and a bunch of other younger kids from Hoboken. We even had a few boys who loved playing field hockey!! All in all it was a great few days of hockey! We were able to teach the younger girls some new skills that will hopefully carry over and be very helpful in their high school play, and we were able to get a head start to introducing our incoming freshman to the style of play we use here at Stevens. We played pick-up with the girls every night and it was great to see how much the girls progressed in just a few days. Seeing the high school girls have "battles" instead of hacking away at sticks, using the swing around the back and even seeing some new dodges that we taught them was really great. It feels great to say "Hey, I taught you that and you used it!!" It was also awesome to get a sneak preview of what the team will be like when all of our new Ducks come in August! They are already blending into our team so well, and we can't wait to see what the rest of the freshman are going to bring! At the end of the camp, we wished the high schoolers good luck with their season, and we were filled with excitement about our upcoming season. Despite graduating a great bunch of girls this past spring, Stevens Field Hockey isn't leaving the top ranks any time soon with the group of girls we have coming in!!

Captains!

As mentioned in the previous post, we have elected three players to be our Captains for the 2009 Season. Congratulations to Erin "E" Broderick, Liz "Voldemort" Zmijewski, and Kara "Empanada/Skadoosh" Borzillo! We can't wait until the Fall!

The President's Tea!

This past Sunday Stevens hosted the Accepted Students Reception. For everyone involved, this day is highly anticipated, especially because it involves free food and entertainment! As a member and tri-captain of the field hockey team, myself (Erin Broderick), Liz Zmijewski (a fellow tri-captain), and Allison Shields (a graduating captain) met our team’s incoming freshman in the Schaefer lobby. We had the opportunity to grab coffee, tea, and choose between an assortment of breakfast pastries and fruit while we got to know each other. Ten of our incoming freshman came to the event, including some who traveled 5 or more hours to get here! It’s really exciting to have so many new additions to our team. Each one of them has so much to offer.

We chatted until President Hal Raveche and a few of our peers gave speeches in Canavan arena and made plans to meet again at 4pm. This time our whole team participated in the meet and greet! We met outside of Walker Gymnasium, where the jazz band provided entertainment and hors d'oeuvres and desserts were served. I was really excited that there was sushi, it’s my favorite. I’m only disappointed I did not have a chance to make a trip to the chocolate fountain for chocolate covered strawberries.

What a way to celebrate the amazing class that Stevens accepted this year. The rain held out for a beautiful sunny day and the food and speeches were wonderful. The class of 2013 seem like they have a lot to offer. The reception provided the beginning of the excitement that I have for our field hockey program and our future. Now I only have to wait for August!

Post-Spring Update

Defensive corner!! (photo credit to my mom!)

So Drexel has come and gone. It was a great day, we really got to work out kinks on the field and play with the new self-start rule. Despite being blustery and chilly, it was a pretty nice day, no rain so we can't complain! The level of play was pretty tough at times, but we held our own very well! I was very proud of my ducks. After playing amongst ourselves for a month it was great to get out there and see what we do as one unit against other teams. At the end of the day I was just super excited for the fall because if we look that good now, we are going to be AWESOME next season!!

Speaking of this Fall....yesterday was Accepted Students day here at Stevens, and aside from getting yummy food (rumors of bacon wrapped scallops were TRUE!) we got to meet some of our incoming freshmen!! We have a great bunch of girls coming to join the team! Their personality and level of play is definitely going to make this Fall an exciting season! We can't wait!!!

-Liz

Drexel this saturday!!!

So, hopefully EVERYONE reading this knows that we will be playing at Drexel on Saturday!! If you read down a few posts you can see the schedule we will be playing. Everyone is getting super PUMPED! It is by far the highlight of my spring. We have been working hard to be able to compete and hold our ground with the high caliber of the DI schools that will be there, and we are looking AWESOME! Our volunteers have been coming out and playing with us (Shout out to Duncan, Daniel, Meiko, Megan, Dennis and Enriquo!) We have been fortunate enough to have later practices during the week so that our volunteers and seniors can come and play with us, even having enough to play full field with two FULL teams (including two goalies!) last week. Everyone is working hard at our team practices and individuals with coach, and the improvements can be seen in everyone! We are definitely going to give Rutgers, LaSalle and Drexel a run for their money this weekend. Hope to see all of our fans out supporting us and to see a sneak preview of how great we're going to be this fall! -Special shout out to Kara and Karen and the rest of the Women's Lacrosse team, who was recently ranked 13th in the IWLCA poll!! They have both had awesome seasons so far, Kara scored 3 goals this past weekend, and Karen is 4th on the team in scoring with 19!! They have a big weekend coming up as they play their conference rival Ithaca on Saturday while we are at Drexel, you can follow them the same way you follow us at www.stevensducks.com. Good Luck Women's Lacrosse!!!!! -Liz "Voldie" Zmijewski