The women’s field hockey team has had a tough couple of weeks. On Oct. 5, the Bills played well against a tough Michigan State team only to fall 5-1. Alisa Hebert scored the lone goal for the Billikens.
The following weekend the Bills traveled to the west coast to take on two Northern Pacific Conference rivals: Pacific and California.
The Bills played hard against Pacific only to lose 1-0 on a penalty corner rebound with 5:59 remaining in the second half.
The next day the Billikens played 1999 NorPac Conference champions, California. The Bills were strong with their execution against Cal, but it wasn’t enough for the victory. The Bears outshot the Bills 18-7 and scored two goals in each half. Cal became the NorPac Conference champion for the second straight year, beating the Bills 4-0.
Head coach Shannon West said, “The team played exceptionally well over the weekend even though the games were recorded as losses. There is much more to our matches than W’s and L’s.”
The Billikens came back on Wednesday, Oct. 18, to host cross-town opponent Lindenwood University at the Anheuser-Busch Sports & Conference Centre.
In the first half of play the Bills poured it on. Junior midfielder Sue Albers started off the scoring just two minutes into the game. She was assisted by Brunner.
Ten minutes later, Brunner scored her first of three goals in the game. It was unassisted.
The second half was also dominated by the Billikens.
Freshman Lindsey Lombardo started off the scoring with 24:40 remaining. She was assisted by fellow freshman Stephanie Knight. Two minutes later Knight followed with a goal of her own, assisted by Albers.
Junior Kristen Burich continued the Billiken scoring drive with 10:10 left in the half. She was assisted by Brunner.
Brunner continued her dominance scoring her second goal of the day off an assist from Knight with 6:12 left in play. She didn’t stop there. With 3:58 remaining, Brunner scored her third and final goal of the game off an assist from Burich to end the game with a Billiken victory, 7-0.
Goalkeepers Erin Linehan and Leslie Kearns shared the shutout by playing one half each.
On Saturday, Oct. 21, the Billikens played their final home game of the season by hosting Radford. The Bills honored seniors Jenny Schwartz and Molly Monahan.
Radford scored two goals with 25:26 and 16:06 remaining in the first half of regulation. This was enough for the victory, as the Bills only took 10 shots on goal to Radford’s 15.
Junior goalkeeper Erin Linehan made five saves, but her efforts weren’t enough as the Billikens were cut down 2-0.
This past Saturday, Oct. 28, the Bills played their final regular-season game against conference rival Southwest Missouri State. The Bills had played the Bears once already this season, defeating them at home, 3-2.
The Bills played a well-fought battle succumbing to SMS 2-1. Sue Albers scored the lone goal for the Billikens with 18:02 left in the first half. She was unassisted.
With the loss the Billikens final record moves to 5-12, 1-5 in the NorPac Conference. The Bills will now move to host the NorPac tournament at the Anheuser-Busch Sports & Conference Centre.
The Bills are seeded sixth out of the seven teams in the conference and will take on the third seeded Stanford Cardinals today, Thursday, Nov. 2 at 12:30 p.m..
The Billikens took on the Cardinals in the second game of the season, losing 5-0. Don’t look for the Billikens to suffer the same fate.
Coach West said, “We’re excited about hosting the NorPac Tournament, and we’re looking forward to our first round match against Stanford.” Coach West said, “Every game is going to be competitive.”
She continued, “We’ve played many games since our loss to Stanford earlier this year, and our girls have gained so much more experience.”
