If there’s one thing that dominates the minds of the field hockey players, it’s making it to the Atlantic 10 tournament.
The team may seem that it’s off to a rough start with its 1-3 record, but, according to head coach Marcie Boyer, that’s not necessarily true.
“The team is doing really well,” Boyer said. “We’re working on fundamentals in practice and executing skills on game day. It’s all about getting ready for conference games.”
Only four teams in the conference make it to the Atlantic 10 tournament. Each weekend, the Billikens play a ranked opponent and an equal opponent with the goal of coming out 1-1, Boyer said.
With games starting in September and ending in October, the Bills have a short season to achieve their goals. “We’re learning from practice to practice and game to game so we can be ready for conference,” Boyer said. “We want to be confident in our skills.”
Out of 17 season games, only six are against other A-10 teams. Conference opponents could prove to be difficult, as Temple University and the University of Massachusetts are now ranked 19th and 20th, respectively. Last year, the Bills didn’t make it to the tournament while UMass won and St. Joseph’s University took second.
“We’re most excited for conference and proving ourselves against other teams there,” senior captain Christine Frampus said.
She said the players are happy with the way they’re playing, although there is still room for improvement.
“As a team, we are working on playing together and communicating,” Frampus said. “We want to be a team on the field and not 11 individual players.”
As of last week SLU leads the conference in saves per game, led by goalkeeper Katherine Deem. Frampus is ranked second for assists per game, while Eva Luck leads for defensive saves. Overall, SLU is tied for sixth place with Richmond in the conference standings.
This weekend the Billikens will head to Chicago to take on Northwestern and Robert Morris University. Last year, the Bills narrowly lost 1-0 to RMU late in the second half. RMU is coming off a win last weekend bringing their record to 3-4.
Like RMU, Northwestern enters this weekend 3-4 after dropping a match to No. 1 Maryland.
