Deacons mow down top-15 foes
By Jordan Webster
Sports Editor

The Deacon field hockey squad has finally gotten on track as it closed out this past weekend with a victory, improving their record to 6-3. The team traveled up to State College, Pa., on Sept. 30, to face the Nittany Lions of Penn State. The Deacs put away the 15th-ranked Lions, with a score of 2-1, giving them their third straight victory over a top-15 team.

The ball started rolling last week when the Deacs hosted Kent State and took a victory with a score of 4-2. The Deacs followed that game with a trip to Chapel Hill where Head Coach Jennifer Averill’s squad shut out the second-ranked Tar Heels 2-0.

The Deacs came out firing at Penn State in a game that saw all of the scoring in the first half. Senior midfielder Jemima Cameron struck first, less than nine minutes into the game, putting one past Penn State goalkeeper Annie Zinkavich to give the Deacs a 1-0 lead. However, the Nittany Lions were able to answer when senior Meredith Schulzitski scored from the edge of the circle tying the game at 1-1.

Looking back over the past six or seven games it has become repetition for the Deacs to get on the scoreboard first. However, this is not a coincidence, as Averill likes to be aggressive right from the beginning, putting pressure on the opposing team.

“I’ve always been an aggressive and offensive-minded coach,” Averill said. “It’s by no means to sit back and rest on that, we want to attack, we want to attack in numbers and we want to play the most aggressive formation we can for as long as we can.”

Averill’s style worked well, as the Deacs out shot the Lions 10-2.

It seemed as if the teams might go into halftime tied, but Cameron was able to sneak one past the Lions’ goaltender, putting the Deacs up 2-1 with 2:49 left in the first-half. That would prove to be all sophomore goaltender Katie Ridd and the Deacs would need as the second half became a much more defensive style of hockey due to the conditions. The Lions took the only shot of the second half and Ridd was able to come up with a save, giving her a total of 2 saves on the day.

The Deacs are certainly making some noise around the country as they moved up to No. 6 in the national coaches’ poll this week, but it was the play of Virginia that shocked the country this past weekend.

Top-ranked Maryland suffered a defeat at the hands of the Cavaliers, who now move up to the No. 8 spot. With this upset, the ACC is now up for grabs making the Deacs’ Oct. 6 contest with UNC much more important.

“I don’t think I have to pump the kids up,” Averill said. “They know this is the ACC game that counts and that there is a lot on the line.”

The Deacs have the entire week off to prepare for what will be a physically and mentally straining game versus the Tar Heels.

“Although we have four days to prep for this game we are going to save our legs and we are going to do what we can to make sure we’re really fresh for Carolina,” Averill said. “They are going to come fired up and we respect that, but its nothing we have not faced already this season.”

The game on Oct. 6 is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Kentner Stadium.