Shippensburg is set to compete against Kutztown, the reigning 2023 NCAA Division II national field hockey champion, today at Kutztown.
The Raiders last game was against Assumption University Saturday, in which they won 3-1. While both Shippensburg and Kutztown are in the same conference, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, today’s game is not a PSAC contest.
Entering the game, Ship is 4-0 and Kutztown is 5-0. After the Assumption game, Ship’s head coach Tara Zollinger said she was pleased to see her attack penalty corner players execute on offensive corners.
“We’ve been practicing corners a lot,” Zollinger said. “And, they haven’t been going as well at practice as well as they did today. So, I think that the shooters really prepared today. They knew they had to be able to execute their opportunities that they were going to get. And, so, big kudos and shoutout to our attack penalty corner shooters, they flipped a switch and were able to convert on two really big corners.”
The Greyhounds’ forwards aren’t easy to contain, but that was the Raiders game plan for the day.
“Assumption is so fast, not just their forwards, but their team speed,” Zollinger said. “They move the ball really quickly from an outlet. On the scout, we could see they could get into their – from an outlet position – into their attack circle in three passes. So, we saw that in the film, and we knew we needed to really make sure we were taking care of defending speed and transition, as well as those set piece plays like an outlet or a midfield attack.”
Assumption was ranked No. 4 and Ship No. 3 at the time of the game. Since then, Assumption dropped another game to Southern New Hampshire. The Greyhounds play Bentley College tomorrow. The National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll now has Shippensburg at No. 2 and Kutztown remained at No. 1.
“First off, hats off to Ship,” Assumption head coach Annie Lahey said. “They are a phenomenal team and their midfield is very strong. I think we were missing some passes. I think we were lagging a little bit behind. Our forwards are really fast, so sometimes its really tough for us to keep up with them….I think we have to keep on working on pushing hard. We were challenged in the backfield. And then transitioning to our forwards that are just zooming all over the place. And, we have to get up there and keep up with them; be there for passes and we have to look up and see where the passes are available.”
Lahey added, “field hockey is the most amazing sport because you can lose the ball and then immediately get it back. And, so we always say stay hard on the ball for three seconds at least and continue to help out because you’ve lost it and it’s your job to get it back. Or, at least help, and take away an inside pass or something like that.”
Valu Paul scored one for the Raiders and Alexa Michielsen scored twice. Elle Murray landed the only goal for Assumption.
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