Claudia Jaszczak. Photo Credits – Danny Aguilar via wcupagoldenrams.com.
Coming into the season ranked second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, West Chester University’s field hockey team got off to a dominant 4–0 start while outscoring their opponents 29–2 in the process.
The Golden Rams are fresh off a 17–5 record last year with a 7–2 record in conference play which resulted in a trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Championship Game and a loss to Shippensburg. That season they averaged 3.41 goals a game while holding their opponents to only 1.27. Both those averages have improved so far this year to 7.25 goals a game and 0.50 a game.
With this improvement, the team hopes to avenge that loss to Shippensburg in the championship with the return of 14 players from last year’s team, including Rookie of The Year and first team All-American Valerie van Kuijick leading the attack. She led the team with 21 goals last year as a freshman and is tied for the lead so far in this hot start to the season. Leading the backfield will be grad student Dara Spavlik. She’s coming off a season in which she was an all-conference player and named as a second team All-American while coming in second on the team with eight goals scored. But with other players leaving and returning, has the team changed a lot from last year to this year aside from just the stats?
“Your team dynamic changes each season,” said head coach of the field hockey team, Amy Cohen. “I would say currently we have a very positive team culture where people are excited to work for each other and come ready to play each and every day.”
This positive attitude extends to the preparation for each game the Rams will play for the remainder of the season. When asked what the biggest games on the schedule are and how the team prepares for those games, Cohen said, “Every game is a big game in the world of D2 field hockey. All of these games matter in regards to making the NCAA Tournament. We prepare the same way for each and every game as if we were playing that game for a championship.”
Having the same mindset of treating every game like the biggest one of your life is key to having the sustained success that Cohen has instilled into the program. Her teams have won three NCAA championships and reached the national semifinals seven times in her twelve years as the coach at West Chester University.
The end goal is winning more championships and the Rams are well-positioned to achieve that goal this year and for years to come with a nice mixture of new and veteran players on the team. This chemistry and preparation will be put to the test as they begin league play in the beginning of October with a rematch of last year’s championship game with Shippensburg scheduled for Oct. 19. Let the journey for championship number four begin.
Colin Bradley is a third year English major with a minor in Journalism. CB953277@wcupa.edu