While the weather at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Sports Centre was scorching, the Billiken Field Hockey team was only lukewarm.

With temperatures in the upper 90’s and the heat index of the turf reaching the 130-degree mark, the Billikens dropped two games to Stanford and Iowa before shutting out Appalachian State for the teams’ first victory of the season.

The Bills now hold a 1-3 record, and are 1-2 in the Northern Pacific Conference.

Due to the extreme weather conditions, instead of the standard two 35-minute halves, the games were played in four quarters to give the players much needed water breaks.

On Thursday, Aug. 31, eight-time NorPac Conference champion Stanford shut out the Bills 5-0. Stanford cruised to victory, outshooting the Billikens 25-7.

Head coach Shannon West said, “We struggled to communicate efficiently both to our players and from one line to another.”

The Billikens took on non-conference opponent University of Iowa on the next day, only to suffer the same fate, another: 5-0 loss.

“We came out strong and competed for 20 minutes,” West said, “Iowa’s players made some good plays and scored three goals on us in the first half.”

Sophomore back Pam Martin took a hit to the mouth that resulted in her having to sit out the remainder of the game.

“After that (Martin’s injury) our players lost their focus and were unable to produce any consistency in their plays,” said West.

The Billikens did rebound on Sunday to capture their first victory of the season against conference foe Appalachian State.

Behind the solid goalkeeping of junior Erin Linehan, the Bills shut out the Mountaineers for a 3-0 victory.

In the first half, senior Jenny Schwartz scored the first Billiken goal on a penalty corner from Molly Monahan.

Freshman superstar Lindsey Lombardo continued the scoring attack in the second half with an unassisted goal, her second of the season.

The Billikens didn’t stop there. Schwartz hit junior Kristen Burich for the third and final goal of the game.

“In our victory over Appalachian State, it was great to see our players execute our practice drills and plays. There was good communication at both ends of the field, with the defense particularly well organized. It was a climbing effort throughout the weekend culminating in a good victory,” West said.

The Bills hit the road for the next three weeks to play six non-conference games.

They return home for a conference match against Southwest Missouri State at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the A-B Sports Centre.