The West Chester University field hockey team was eliminated from playoff contention last week after a year of hopes, hard fought match-ups and a program building for the future.When head coach Kathy Krannebitter entered Atlantic-10 conference play, she proclaimed that anything could happen. She was certainly right.
West Chester opened up this year as the clear underdog within a conference that has been dominated by the University of Richmond since 2001. West Chester marched onto the Richmond’s home field and delivered to Richmond the first conference loss in 44 straight opportunities.
Two days later, they traveled home to defeat Saint Louis behind two penalty strokes to win the programs 400th career victory.
However, St Joe’s walked onto West Chester’s home field and rolled up any momentum with a 6-0 victory. From that point forward, West Chester faced must-win games against Temple and La Salle.
Temple walked onto South Campus and took a 1-0 lead that seemed would not fall. However, senior Sara Conrad was not ready to see her season end as she tied the game at 1-1. Both teams battled and overtime seemed inevitable with two great defenses clicking on all cylinders. But, with 42 seconds remaining, Alli Lokey gashed West Chester playoff hopes with a game winning goal.
West Chester’s season finale at La Salle would mean a lot less than it could have. The Lady Rams’ playoff hopes were over.
The season showed much more heart than the team that won two games the year before.
This was a team that fought against No. 2 UNC and No. 7 Penn State and lost 5 games by two goals or less.
This season was a step in the right direction giving young players a taste of what can be possible.
Freshman Alex Swayze and sophomore Joelle Zarefoss made strides this year that will help to cope with the losses of six seniors.
Coach Kathy Krannebitter will look to 10 juniors to lead and become senior leaders next year, along with another strong recruiting class.
This year was a season of making strides. Richmond’s monkey is off their back, and they proved they could win and compete in conference and out of conference.
The Lady Rams finished with a record 6-12. Those six wins may not seen like a lot, but last season the team finished with two overall wins and failed to beat a conference opponent.
Next Year, the team will look to build upon their record with 10 juniors, returning talent and a recruiting class that will build upon Zarefoss and Swayze.
The team has made strides with a veteran team, and will need to push for a playoff berth sooner rather than later.
Frank Stern is a fourth-year student majoring in Literature. He can be reached at FS628548@wcupa.edu