On the Turf
8/25/2011 1:51:13 PM | Field Hockey
Hello Syracuse fans! My name is Erika Wachter and I am a senior forward on the team. Welcome to Syracuse Field Hockey 2011 and thanks for joining me to learn about what truly happens behind the scenes.
Well, we started preseason aka “the best season” on Wednesday, August 10. After sitting in meetings for almost four hours, we headed home, only to return a short while later. From there, we met our coaches and were told we had an hour to pack our things into five bags total. Why? Well, we were headed on a camping trip at Adams Eden! Considering pretty much only Anna Crumb enjoys this hobby, we weren't that excited. (Instead, we all wished it was like the fun place named Eden in the movie Couple's Retreat.) After our cell phones were taken from us, we realized that team bonding was in full effect. Once at our cabin, we were all hungry and Martina Loncarica, with the help of Lauren Brooks, took on the challenge of making her 18 teammate's dinner. It was quite amusing (particularly serving us from the pot on the floor), but her pasta turned out to be truly delicious!
Immediately after dinner, we decided to go on an excursion through the wood to find this “awesome” waterfall. After at least 30 minutes of walking and climbing (and falling) down a steep mountain we reached the falls. But wait, it was a mini-stream with the largest water fall being three feet high. Let's just say we were less than thrilled, particularly Liz McInerney, who succumbed to the peer pressure of climbing through a muddy area, dirtying her sweatshirt and drenching her water bottle in mud. After we navigated our way through the dark back to our cabin safely, we chatted and made up our own games for several hours. After discussing our sadness about forgetting to bring food to make 'smores, we headed to our bunk-beds, all 19 of us crammed into one room, and woke up in the morning feeling less than well-rested for our running test that afternoon.
Yet while Day one was vivid and memorable, Days 2-9 were all just one big blur. We practiced three times a day. In fact, the only thing we ever seemed to do was play and eat, play and eat, play and eat…with a little bit of sleep in between. The freshman slept on the living room floors and couches of the upperclassman and each house took turns making and hosting lunch for the team.
During this week, I'd say most of our memories were solely based around food. Like the morning we made breakfast for each other. Rachel Sayer took down orders and Amy Kee, Jordan Page, Leann Stiver, Nicole Nelson and Haley Bomboy worked the kitchen, cooking up made-to order omelettes, delicious French toast and juicy bacon. Or the night we had a home cooked meal by the Stiver's for Leann's 20th birthday. We were obsessed with everything about this meal, the homemade salsa, the fruit, the salad, the pork and the rice. We must have raved on about this meal for days. Nicole (Nelson) wanted no one to eat second servings so she could have more and Amy (Kee) was so fascinated by the rice, which Iona Holloway had to assure her was a common food item. Martu (Loncarcia), who said five times how she didn't usually like pork, was in love with the pork tenderloins. In all seriousness though, we are still waiting on the salsa and marinating recipes.
Other highlights from preseason include: “the Germans” Leonie Geyer and Laura Hahnefeldt tanning on our afternoon off, Ange (Bradley) calling Stephanie Hussey Tarzan, Kelsey Millman's “infected” bee sting and of course, Assistant Coach Steve Simpson's cat Bonkers…most notably us making him a twitter account. Follow him @PhatKatBonkers.
Overall, we spent every waking minute together, and faced many ups and downs and growing moments, but learning so much about the tendencies of one another, will only aid us in helping to reach our ultimate goal: winning the National Championship.
Our first step to achieving that goal was on Day 10n when we got the chance to face our first opponent, Albany. We were on the road by 9 a.m. and discussed what movie we were going to watch. Here's what we chose: The Little Mermaid. If only you could hear the excitement on the bus! We were all reflecting on our childhoods and what Disney Princess we each resemble best. For example, Adrian Chambers as Ariel, Kelsey Millman as Pocahontas, and Heather Susek as Sleeping Beauty, to name a few. Our coach Ange Bradley, however, disagreed with our idea of a pre-game movie and instead put on The Express: The Story of Ernie Davis.
The movie ended and after losing track of time and leisurely eating our lunches at Panera Bread, we arrived at the field just 45 minutes before game time. With not enough time to go into the locker room, we quickly changed on the bus and headed out to the scrimmage. Unfortunately, after three 25-minute periods of play, we lost, 2-1. Yet, this minor speed bump has been used as a learning experience. There were low points, but also high points, like when freshman goalkeeper Sophia Openshaw came up with two amazing saves! We watched video for several hours the day after the game and learned what we need to do differently. The loss propelled us through the last five days of practice and has put us in a good position entering our first game of the season.
Yet the one event that I think has prepared us most for the season ahead was our trip to a ropes course. This was an amazing team-building experience. Several people climbed a thirty foot tree, jumping into the hands of a flying teammate. Almost every one of us basically bungee-jumped, falling from 40 feet in the air. (Our videos will be up soon on our FaceBook page: Syracuse Field Hockey.) But not only did we test our vertical limits, we tested emotional limits with trust falls and some people even tested other limits, petting the snouts of and feeding two humongous pigs and even trying to kiss a fish!
As a 2011 team, it is days like these that we will never forget. We came together as one unit and gained a new excitement and perspective on things. If we can trust each other while forty feet in the air, we know we can trust each other on the field and in other aspects of life. Go 'Cuse!
Keep reading next week to find out who we nominated captains and how our first game turned out.
