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Check back throughout the season for senior back Laura Miller's weekly diary.

Field Hockey report 10/4/03

From 6-1 to 8-1 in just three days. This past week the American field hockey team finally beat St. Joseph's after a month postponement caused by a rain out, and Fairfield - our second Patriot League match-up this season.

This past Wednesday we traveled to the University of Delaware to play the remaining 29 minutes and 8 seconds of our game against St. Joe’s. It was strange having a shortened warm-up and then a shortened game. But once again the teams ability to be flexible overcame the differences and we captured the win. Javi banged in the third goal of the game, the only of the evening. We stayed strong throughout the field and allowed few chances for the St. Joe’s offense. We finished the game 3-0, picking up a shutout and adding closure to our first game of the season.

This week’s real excitement, however, came on Saturday when we beat Fairfield 5-0. The team played so well, I was able to join the fans and watch an absolutely beautiful game of hockey. The first half was especially good. Passing combinations, finishing, defense, hits and stops were on. The girls certainly made it look like playing field hockey was easy. Javi created our first scoring opportunity just minutes into the first half when she, unassisted, found the back of the cage. Much thanks to Melis and her persistence in front of the goalie because she won a penalty stoke for the team. Javi took the stroke and scored her second goal of the day, third of the week. Being up 2-0 gave us a bit of leeway to practice executing passing combinations and transfers through the midfield. We did this beautifully, and patiently waited for our next scoring opportunity, which came near the end of the first half. The play started with Sacha, who found ‘H’ who then masterfully bumped the ball to Cami who took off, she found the baseline and drove hard and released the ball just in time to connect with Kaitlin for a picture perfect goal number three. We were on fire. The excitement on and off the field was infectious. With less than two minutes left in the half Moei found the boards on a corner hit. Being up 4-0 at half time is a new experience for American and I think for the most part we stayed composed and finished well.

During the second half we were unable to capitalize as much as we had hoped. Despite the lack of second half scoring, as a team we gained much experience. With just eight minutes to go in the game, Moei connect on a corner and scored the fifth goal of the game. Krysta came in to replace me and did a great job to maintain the shutout…watching our offense up close on the sideline was amazing! I am glad they are all on my team!! I know I am not the only one who felt this way about being subbed out.

As always our parents came through with a stellar tailgate. Maryland and Clemson football tailgaters surrounded us . . . but I know they were jealous of our sausage sandwiches, BBQ, strawberry salad, and chocolate pretzel bites. Thank you for your continued support - it would be much more difficult to maintain our winning streak without the confidence of our fans and supporters.

Be sure to stay tuned for an update of this week's games. We play James Madison University on Wednesday at 7 pm. We will also be playing our third Patriot League match-up on Saturday against Lehigh at the University of Maryland- Baltimore Campus.

Go Eagles,
Laura