With strong senior leadership and five talented freshmen, the
Saint Louis University field hockey team (0-9, 0-3 in NorPac) looks
to make the most of the second half of its season.
“I’ve been seeing improvements in the team, but its tough to get
a new coach,” said coach Maria Whitehead. “You just can’t go from
winning two games to winning them all.”
Whitehead comes from Wake Forest University, where she played on
the 2002 national championship team. During her career, Whitehead
scored 14 goals, had 40 assists and was twice named an All-Atlantic
Coast Conference player. The Billikens are Whitehead’s first team
as a coach.
“I really like Saint Louis. The players are working hard,”
Whitehead said.
The SLU team is anchored by its three captains: seniors Lindsay
Lombardo and Alisa Hebert and junior Ellen Rapp.
“The two seniors have been around for a long time and have led
the team well,” said Whitehead. The captains shoulder a team that
includes five freshmen, all of which are performing well. “The
freshmen fit in well. They have great talent and are very
coachable,” Whitehead said.
The Bills are led in points by sophomore midfielder Carin Boone.
Boone has netted three goals for 6 points in the first half of the
season.
“She’s had a good year so far. Boone has a nose for the goal and
great natural talent,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead has been impressed with the play of sophomore
goalkeeper Julie Moeckel,, who has earned a 2.56 goals against
average in the team’s nine games this year.
Last weekend, SLU dropped a 4-2 home opener against Indiana
University with the two SLU goals coming from Boone and Rapp. Up
next is the ninth road game for the Bills, who will travel to face
Southwest Missouri State (1-8, 0-1 in NorPac) on Sunday.
The Bills will face the Bears, a NorPac opponent, in
Springfield.
“SMS has been improving. It will be interesting to see how our
team responds to this conference match,” Whitehead said. “If we
play good hockey going in, we’ll have a good chance. Playing SLU
hockey always gives us a good chance of winning games,” Whitehead
said.
Whitehead is looking forward to improving in 2004, when she will
have extra time to work with the team on their skills.
“It will be good to have a spring to work on our basics,”
Whitehead said. “We’ll have a new batch of freshmen, too.”
I-44 Road Trip
Who: Southwest Missouri State Bears
When: Sunday, 12 p.m.
Where: Springfield Mo.
