Pennsylvania is home to some of the best NCAA Division I, II, and III college field hockey programs in the nation.
At the start of 2024 Fall season, Penn State Harrisburg was officially onboarded as one of the newest to join the DIII ranks, which is the NCAA division that offers the most opportunities for athletes to play the sport across the country.
Harrisburg took on Fairleigh Dickinson Florham Wednesday in the Nittany Lions first-ever home game. Florham lost 1-0 after Harrisburg capitalized on a lone stroke late in the fourth to win the game 1-0.
Harrisburg is 2-0 overall on the season. Florham is 0-2.
“I feel awesome,” fifth year Wagner College transfer Natalie Rocuskie said. “It was really great to score my first goal with Penn State Harrisburg on our home field.”
Rocuskie, who played at Cedar Cliff High School and Wagner, said she “couldn’t even imagine being here before and now I’m here and it’s great.”
Florham took more shots in the first and fourth quarters. The second and third favored Penn State, but both teams took 12 shots.
Harrisburg edged Florham in penalty corners, earning 12 to FDU’s 8.
“We’re still trying to get to know each other,” Rocuskie said. “It’s been less than a month that we’ve been playing together. And, little by little, we’re meshing more and more. In our first couple of scrimmages and games, we couldn’t even get that many corners, so now today that we’re getting as many as we did, it’s awesome. We just need to execute and finish, and I think that will come soon.”
Late in the fourth, with three minutes remaining, the ball was dished from baseline into Florham’s goalie. The ball popped through her pads and was behind her.
Four players – two from each team – rushed to get the ball and all collided in front of the cage. A stroke was called and Rocuskie was picked. She sent the ball into the net for the game-winning goal.
“We have a few girls who have played in college before, me being a fifth year and then we have two sophomores who come from other schools,” she said. “So, we have that experience. Basically, everyone’s newbies, but I think we’re having upsets and we’re proving people wrong. And, that’s what I love about this team.”
Florham switched things up for the final minutes of the game. Head Coach Jenny Carr pulled her goalie and added a field player to round out her 11.
“Our team controlled the pace of the whole game,” she said. “And, sometimes you just don’t get the calls and it doesn’t go your way, but that doesn’t mean we should hang our heads because we played our butts off. We’re getting better every minute we’re on the field. And, we made some huge adjustments throughout the game and we even adapted a new system from the year’s past. This is my first season with them. And, we’re getting there. It’s one step at a time. Throughout the game, we consistently got better and better.”
Now that history has been made, Lions head coach AJ Misselhorn said she hopes it shows what PSU-Harrisburg can offer.
“Exciting to get a win in our first home game,” she said. “This athletic department did a great job to make it a big day for us and really celebrate today. Really just thankful to our athletic director, who got our whole school out here to support us. It’s awesome to see this kind of fan support for student female athletes.
For the team, they just worked really hard, and just really proud of our athletes. They’re just gritty and they fight hard to the end, and to get a win at the very last minute like that, that is just amazing for our program.
Hopefully recruiting can get really hot. We know we have a great product here both in the University to get a Penn State degree, but also to play athletics at a small campus with a family feel. I think that’s something that hopefully will draw a lot of our great central Pennsylvania players to come play for us.”
Photo: Penn State Harrisburg Athletics
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