Ursinus bests Jays in semi-finals

The Lady Jays field hockey team took the field on Saturday to face off against the Ursinus Bears in the semi-finals of the Centennial Conference Tournament. The Lady Jays came into the game with a 10-8 record, while the sixth-ranked Bears came into the game with an overall 14-3 record. The Bears came out strong driving down the field with the first possession and scoring in the first two minutes. “They started off with the ball, and they took it immediately down to our end,” sophomore Abby Grant said. “Usually teams go back field first to collect and shape up in there own zone; however, they surprised us by attacking hard right out of the controlled possession.” It was only 86 seconds later when Ursinus crushed in their second goal of the game. Amber Steigerwalt of the Bears passed across the front of the cage to Danielle Strong, who tipped it in from the left side. The Lady Jays were down 2-0, and it had only been roughly four minutes. The Lady Jays were able to hold off the Ursinus offense for close to 12 minutes before Ursinus would once again tip in two quick goals to bring the score to 4-0. The Lady Jays were unable to halt the offensive push, though, as the Bears scored two more goals just three minutes apart from each other, bringing the score to 6-0 just before the half. The morale of the team was down as they came together at halftime, struggling to stay confident after a rough first half. “One of our senior captains, Danielle Thompson, calmed us down,” Grant said. “She told us that she was not going to let her career end like this. She told us that we were stronger than this individually, but especially as a team. She really pumped us up, and we wanted to go back out there in order to represent for our seniors and ourselves.” As the second half opened, the Bears would get one last goal in within four minutes, and then the Lady Jays shut them down. Hopkins stepped up its game and closed off all offensive advances by the Bears. “We changed our game plan,” Grant said. “We put only two defensive players up top, and it shut them down. We came together as a team and decided that we were going to end our season our way.” The Lady Jays kept the Bears from scoring any more in the game, but Hopkins was unable to score at all. The Lady Jays lost the game with a final score of 7-0. “Coach Fraser told us going into the game that this was a wonderful opportunity as a team,” Grant said. “She said that we have nothing to lose and to give it all that we had for the entire game. Coach wanted us to play better hockey by the second half, and she was very proud and excited for the work and effort we put in.” The Lady Jays finish their season with a winning record of 10-9, improving their overall record from the previous season. “We had a losing record last season, and this season we made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Centennial Conference tournament,” Grant said, “I am very proud of what we accomplished this season, and I am very excited for the future of our team.” The Lady Jays will be graduating four seniors, leaving a large veteran squad going into next season. “It will be extremely sad losing our seniors,” Grant said. “They made an extra effort this year to bring our team together, and we are closer than we have ever been before. There is a lot of respect held for every one of our seniors, and we will miss them.” The Lady Jays now look forward to a few weeks off before they start winter training sessions and move into spring ball. The field hockey team may be done for this season, but they are already preparing to come back even better for the next.