SharkLife With Iona Holloway
11/15/2012 9:45:00 AM | Field Hockey
ENTRY 10: Nov. 14
She's been a phantom for the last three and a half years. Some questioned if she was real. At times I was beginning to think she was kind of rude because she only seemed to invite Maryland and North Carolina to the party. What were we doing wrong? Even (sharp intake of breath) Connecticut was on the guest list last year.
She has moved home on an annual basis for as long as anyone can remember, although Ange Bradley managed to find out she was spending Fall 2012 in Norfolk, Virginia. Bradley probably got this information after a massive security breech in 2008, when Syracuse gatecrashed proceedings.
Her younger brother Eight has been more hospitable over the years, although he's earned a reputation as bit of a heartbreaker when it comes to the Syracuse field hockey team. Three years ago he picked Princeton over us. Two years ago it was Ohio. And last year Eight picked a Maryland terrapin. Was he seeing something we didn't?
When we lost the Big East final to Connecticut a couple of weeks ago the non-believers counted us out. They popped a fifth overall seed on our head and sent us to Penn State to meet Eight's ugly brother, Sixteen. After the season we've had NCAA should have known better than to count a shark out.
Sixteen proved a sly host when he invited UMass for a small get together on Saturday afternoon at State Park. It was as if Sixteen's extended family, NCAA selection committee, knew about our date with UMASS earlier in the season, when we chose to donate our unbeaten record to them. We didn't make the same mistake this time, and UMass had to leave the party early.
To keep things fun, heartbreaker Eight arrived in town on Sunday. Eight thought Penn State would be cool to hang out with, and we were inclined to agree. But when when we arrived on Sunday afternoon Penn State attempted to steal our bench, then refused to share the orange and blue cones for warm up. Unfortunately for them, we scored five goals and they only scored two. It turns out we don't like sharing either.
And suddenly, there she was.
Suitably impressed by what she'd seen, Final Four emerged, post-game, to extend a cordial invitation to Syracuse field hockey after all these years. Whether she likes us or not, I don't know. What she's got in store in Norfolk, I can only imagine. All I do know is that Princeton, North Carolina and Maryland are also invited and, come Sunday night, someone's going to be a national champion.
Let the games begin.
ENTRY 9: Oct. 31
There's nothing like being given a "sign." So it was an exciting moment when a rainbow appeared all over the field before last weekend's regular season decider against UCONN. But the rainbow wasn't in the sky. As the team trotted out onto the field, wearing the usual orange warm-up t-shirts, they were followed by a motley crew of vaguely recognizable childhood heroes.
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Sure, Mitt Romney's trying to get rid of Big Bird: but he's got nothing on this year's seniors. After an inspired effort by the rest of the team, Sesame Street, temporarily rebranded as "Senior Street" took to the field on Saturday in a bid to win our last ever Big East regular season trophy.
If you blinked you might have missed Grouch, who blended into the green turf as she arrived for warm up. Liz McInerney wanted to think she was Grouch as a nod to Ireland, but teammates informed her it's because her life is like a trashcan. There's something to be said for living life in constant mess however, after Grouch's performance earned her a spot on the Big East weekly honor roll.
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But no one quite brought their character to life more than Haley Bomboy, who yelled, "OOOOOO … COOKEEEE" on entering the locker room, and proceeded to eat a bag of chocolate chip cookies for a pre-game snack. And that snack worked wonders. The UCONN defense didn't quite know what to do with the Cookie Monster, when she appeared to run away from the ball and goal during a Syracuse attack in the second half.
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But the Cookie Monster had bigger plans. The UCONN defense were so preoccupied trying to steal cookies from the Cookie Monster that they missed small, skinny and super smiley Captain Kelsey "Elmo" Millman, creeping unsighted behind them. Gill Pinder sent an inch perfect pass and Elmo flew through the air to score a diving deflection for our second goal. If only she'd started singing "Nananana, nananana … Elmo's World" during the celebration.
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All the action was captured by Ernie, who temporarily replaced Amy Kee on video duty at the usual spot on top of the hill. Given that Ernie's mouth is incapable of closing, due to a set of very large, British teeth, you could see our favorite number 7's mouth beaming from the other side of the field.
Which was where Big Bird, aka Leann Stiver, was perched in goal. While kickers disguised her freakishly skinny legs, Big Bird did a great job of using her rather large feet to deny the opposition's forwards. Unfortunately, Big Bird couldn't do much about UCONN's first goal, because it travelled faster than the speed of light.
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Even though Bert's normally pretty anti-social, I decided to hang out with Big Bird in defense for the day. My natural facial expression, according to everyone, is an evil stare, so Bert sour demeanor rather suited me. And when I managed to score own goal number two of the season against Big Bird in the last 10 minutes, I frowned so hard my eyebrows joined together.
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And so the game ended, with Sesame Street and associates beating UCONN 3-2. Not only did we succeed in winning the Regular Season Championship, but also illustrated exactly how important Sesame Street is as an educational institution. Let's hope we find a pot of gold at the end of this weekend's Big East Tournament.
ENTRY 8: Oct. 26
Sharks can't be sunk by anything. Not even by midterms spread over four weeks, the imminent arrival of my dad, and especially not by UConn Huskies.
"OH YES UCONN!"
"OH NO YOU UCAN'T," as the old theatre saying goes.
We'll see about that on Saturday.
Back to last week and, with Natalie touring Europe for strictly recruitment purposes, Steve and Ange were left to organize everything. Things got off to a shaky start when we arrived at Rochester airport on Thursday morning, with exactly 33 minutes to check in, get through security and board the plane. "Oh no UCAN'T," was the general feeling as we pulled up and sprinted through the terminal, but against all odds, Steve even had enough time to get a Dunkin' Donuts before boarding.
After a squashed shuttle bus ride deposited us at the airport car hire, mom, dad, and strange auntie Jenny (known in real life as Ange, Steve and Athletic Trainer Jenny Russell) picked up the keys to three shiny people carriers, and drove us to the hotel. An "Oh no UCAN'T" turn right sign nearly sent us in the wrong direction on the highway: But we knew it was just a bluff.
Around swung Friday morning. Sophia Openshaw sat in the hotel lobby, nose deep in USA Today crossword, trying to find a synonym for the word "harbinger." Everything seemed very calm.
So calm in fact, we nearly missed our Georgetown game. Ange pulled herself away from a spreadsheet containing GPS data from our Louisville game earlier in the season just in time to get us to the field for warm up.
While conceding two goals against Georgetown wasn't exactly what we had in mind, the game was a solid performance. Jess Jecko gave Leann "Bambi" Stiver a rest in the cage and Sarah Clark and Erin Dickey gave Liz McInerney and Anna "Stay out of the game for 20 minutes please" Crumb a break in midfield and defense.
After crab cakes and shark necklaces at a very wet tailgate we started the epic journey home. "Oh no UCAN't," take as long flying home from Maryland as driving, I hear you say. Well actually … UCONN. We arrived in Syracuse approximately 10 years after our game finished, at 1 a.m. on Saturday morning. With Natalie back in town, Steve was relieved of time management duties, effective immediately.
Sunday's game against Boston College was brilliant in parts, and ugly in others. I extend this description not only to our defensive shape but also to blue-haired crowd favorite, Jessie J's uncle, who arrived in the stands, decked out in Syracuse pajamas.
We made a fair attempt at sinking ourselves in the second half by giving away too many defensive penalty corners, but came away with a 4-2 win. Boston tried to make up the two-goal deficit with a kicking back, but we proved UCAN'T, with frantic but nonetheless effective, defense.
Halloween Saturday marks Seniors Day, as well as a face off for the Big East regular season championship. It's sure to be a show. If UCONN, please come, and if UCAN'T, be there in ghostly spirit.
On Saturday afternoon someone will have a trophy above her head, but will it be a shark or a husky?
Here's a hint.
OH, NO UCAN'T, and OH, YES WE CAN.
ENTRY 7: Oct. 17
It started in the middle of the bus. A slow, persistent chant: more powerful than the silence that filled our post-game huddle after our loss to UMass. "We want Coke … we want Coke!" Steve Squared and Natalie turned in their seats at the front of the bus to face the mutinous crowd. They looked concerned. What had Ange left them with on the Friday night bus ride home?
Trouble, that's what. The noise grew. "I'm pregnant, I need Coke." Alyssa "Shed" Manley yelled (DISCLAIMER: this statement was purely for persuasive effect). "Mitt Romney is Pro-Coke," I directed at Steve (Sorry fact-checker, this might not be true). "I'm going to die," came from somewhere, probably Liz McInerney (again, hopefully false). The pitch of Natalie Barret's voice rose slightly, trying to quiet the mob.
We knew we had her.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Steve Squared pulled up at a gas station and a strict, "one soda each policy," was issued. We ran inside, grabbed a Coke and headed to the checkout, only to realize we would be paying with our own money. Haley Bomboy put her drink back. Some upsized. We trudged back to the bus, loot in hand. A hollow victory, you might say.
And "hollow" sums up last week's results. We played a criminal game on Thursday against UMass: Just ask poor Jordan Page. In order to learn from our mistakes we've watched video of our outletting against UMass all week. Just about everyone is standing in the wrong place and giving the wrong pass, and because Pagey's the center mid, she's in every clip. Poor kid.
But back to the weekend. Reflecting on our shocking performance against UMass that night, we rallied. The best way to come back from a loss is a win after all. Things were looking up when a suspiciously tanned Emma "Rusty" Russell returned from her whistle-stop mid-week tour of Ireland to go to "her Debs." I'm still not quite sure what "the Debs" is, but I think it's the Irish equivalent of a homecoming ball (not that I know what that is either.)
So back to that small task of winning. After the teams were announced to the crowd in Friday's game against Stanford, we held hands, as is customary, all set to belt out the national anthem. Then the announcer revealed the anthem would not be played twice in one day, as UMass had already had a game in the earlier time slot. Rusty looked bereft, after informing a teammate earlier in the season, "I really like that song." Everyone shuffled around awkwardly in the middle of the field, realizing we were holding hands for no reason.
Maybe it was a lucky charm. Although we conceded the first goal against Stanford we came back strong in the second half, scoring four. Alyssa Manley scored two, giving the Nancy Manley Paparazzi Co. something to snap about.
And just like that, we were back to our winning ways. We play Georgetown on Friday, and fly back to J.S. Coyne for Sunday's game against Boston. When we win both this weekend, maybe Natalie will pay for the Coke. Or Steve could always ask his good friend Mitt.
ENTRY 6: Oct. 9
There is nothing worse than drawing attention to yourself, then doing something foolish while everyone, and their gran, is watching. But Sarah Clark's grandparents were the least of my worries in the second half of our game against Providence on Saturday. We had been under pressure on defense, and had finally won the ball on the left sideline. I came roaring over from my center back position, pushed Anna Crumb off the ball, and eyed up a slightly adventurous, in-field, diagonal aerial.
Whether there was some greater power working on me I will never know, but I proceeded to aerial the ball in the complete opposite direction, nearly smashing a window, hitting an innocent child, and killing the Providence Friar who had come out to watch the Big East clash. Suitably embarrassed, I sloped back off to the middle of the field, aerial attempts done for the day.
Thankfully for all concerned, not everyone was on the struggle bus on Saturday. A late night Friday practice meant we had a feel for the turf and the large, slippery Friar that was painted on the middle of the field. Steve ensured everyone practiced "running through the Friar," so that we didn't temporarily lose the ball in the white paint during the game.
After a great night's sleep in the Biltmore Hotel, which is apparently haunted, everyone was wide-awake at 8.40 a.m. to go for a jog around Rhode Island. We ended up running in a rectangle around a concrete skate park, which was slightly monotonous but, as Sophia Openshaw pointed out, "minimized extraneous variables." We then lay down on the concrete and attempted to do some yoga: emphasis on the word attempted.
Fast-forward three hours and it was time to play. Providence's "warm up CD" is always an aural-assault and by the time the clock struck noon we had made firm friends with Slipknot. Stephanie Hussey pointed out that she wouldn't be surprised if our opposition, clad head to toe in black, did "The Hakka" before push back.
In what I can only assume was a bit of "side-mid-rivalry" Gillian Pinder managed to smash Leonie Geyer in the knee during warm-up. Thankfully, Leonie "Oma Lonnie" Geyer recovered in time to score our first goal, making her nearly as popular as her parents, who were over visiting from Germany: but not quite.
We didn't play our best hockey at Providence, but still won 3-0. Our second goal was like art: in outletting, passing, and scoring form, and Leann Stiver pulled out some great saves when the defense appeared to be temporarily MIA at points in the second half.
Game over, we took a quick dip in the Providence ice bath, but temporarily lost our clothes when Steve Squared drove off to pick up lunch with all our bags still on board. After locating our wayward luggage everyone had some parent-time. With my semi-murderous aerial in mind, I used my designated "international orphan status" to check that I didn't have a Friar-based lawsuit on my hands.
ENTRY 5: Oct. 5
When I took Oceanography to fulfill a Liberal Arts Core Requirement this semester I didn't anticipate it coming in handy for my field hockey career: Or my life in general. But I felt like the ultimate oceanographer during Sunday afternoon's game against Yale as I swan around J.S. Coyne field attempting to locate where exactly the ball, and my teammates, were. Taking the term "student-athlete" to a whole other level, the game turned into excellent revision for my Wednesday midterm.
After torrential downpours turned the "field of dreams" into the "field of streams, lakes and small oceans" it was all anyone could do to hit the ball 5 yards before it came to a pathetic stop. I began to feel bad for the crowd of hardcore fans who came to watch, until I realized the bleachers would serve as a slightly metallic Noah's Arc if things got really rough.
There was no such hope for those on the field, and the potential for drowning came into full effect in the second half. Five goals in the first half gave us a comfortable lead so after the ball pace slowed to the speed of a century-old sea turtle we didn't feel too bad about maintaining possession, while using our sticks as handy flotation devices.
After a "get-out-of-this-alive" timeout at 65 minutes Leonie Geyer and Lauren Brooks swam off into the left corner of the field and began maintaining possession like a pair of performing seals. Jordan Page also took the Finding Nemo proverb "just keep swimming" to heart and threw so many aerials out of our defense that she was named Big East Scuba Diver of the Week on Tuesday.
In our post-Yale media interviews I was asked whether sharks like playing in the rain. The answer is yes and no. A win is a win, and it's always nice to sink some Ivy Leaguers on a Sunday afternoon. But its nice to win without thinking a scuba-suit, instead of a skirt, might be more appropriate for the occasion.
ENTRY 4: Sept. 26
What does a 5-9, auburn-haired, Greek field hockey player look like running the final lap of a 2km on a Thursday afternoon? Just ask freshman Sarah Clark, who likened Adrian Chamber's facial expression in the final 100m to "an animal tearing up meat." It seemed rude at the time, but now I think Clarky was experiencing a spooky premonition of the upcoming weekend's events. Fast-forward to Sunday and it was a whole team of Sharks shredding some black and orange Princeton Tigers.
But it could have been a very different story. After beating Rutgers on Friday we arrived at Princeton for our Saturday training session. The team stepped onto Princeton's brand new field … and fell over. Our trusty pink and silver Nike dry turfs had transformed into death traps. While Steve tried to calmly explain how to defend the left-hand side of the field everyone lost their balance just thinking about defensive footwork. I seriously considered getting my entire body taped to prevent life-ending sprains.
But we needn't have worried. In a moment of crisis, a leader immerged in the form of freshman goalkeeper Jessica "Jessie J" Jecko. Primarily responsible for saving shots, and keeping everyone in the team stocked up on chewing gum and socks, Jessie J phoned her parents in Sauquoit who made a detour in their road trip to collect everyone's wet turfs from the locker room.
That evening Sauquoit's special shoe delivery arrived while the team waited for Steve Simpson and Bus Driver Steve (Steve Squared) to collect dinner from a restaurant that had accidently cancelled our order. When Steve Squared finally returned two hours later the team had successfully located the hotel's complimentary candy supply and were so exhausted from a great game of "Team Member Most Likely To Marry a Celebrity/Have Sextuplets/Be Amish, etc." that no one was hungry …
… for anything but Tiger! Cue Sunday at 2 p.m. and Princeton's ice rink had nothing on Laura Hahnefeldt who announced, while modeling the new wet turfs, "I'm stuck to the field."
The first half was a game of Tiger and Shark. No one gave anything away and we entered halftime at 0-0. Five minutes into the second half and the team felt like Adrian on Thursday when she started the final lap of her 2k and calmly informed Stephanie Hussey, "I'm going to die."
You know it's a rough day at the office when you're relieved to concede a penalty corner (DPC) just so you can breathe. But as "Quadruple L" (Liz, Laura, Leo, Leann) and I lined up in goal for the DPC I nearly had a heart attack when I spotted a leaf near Liz McInerney's foot glinting like a slightly evil four leafed clover. Just as I opened my mouth to warn Liz the umpire started blowing his whistle and came marching over to fix a hole in the net with some zip ties. While the crowd behind the goal began muttering some unhelpful comments the Princeton girls started rearranging themselves at the top of the circle into a formation we'd never seen before. Unfortunately for Princeton, we turned the "substandard-net-evil-leaf-mean-fans-unknown-corner" debacle into the ultimate make-it-work moment. We killed their corner and got on with the second half.
And what a second half. At around the 55-minute mark Leonie Geyer "tunneled" the ball through the goal keeper's legs on an APC. Leann Stiver left the Big East no choice but to name her Defender of the Week when she denied Princeton time after time with her "pumped up kickers" in goal. Anna "Stay in the Game" Crumb vacuumed up every aerial, and Jordan "Little Pagey" Page managed to trick Princeton's Olympian with some midfield magic. When Emma "Rusty" Russell added a second goal with five minutes left even the Tiger's unofficial Twitter feed admitted we were playing pretty well.
Our win at Princeton earned us a trip to the ice cream shop (Steve Squared needed little persuasion) and the honor of being No. 1 in the nation. But as our Greek knows, the first lap of a 2k is easy. It will be the last lap in November when we're dying, potentially looking like carnivores, and hopefully winning a National Championship that everyone will remember: Even if we don't look quite as beautiful as Adrian while we do it.
ENTRY 3: Sept. 19
Liz McInerney is not known for her pre-game punctuality. So it was a slightly nervous, "is this real life" moment when we walked into Manley Field House at the exact same time on Friday afternoon. As we picked up our game gear from Dan "The Kit Man" Schworles, Liz brandished a sweatshirt at him. She asked if he was capable of getting Irish Barry Tea stains out of clothes. With a knowing look Dan told Liz to hand it over. Same old Dan. Same old Liz.
Or was it? In fact it was a slightly above average Liz that graced J.S. Coyne field over the weekend. She was awarded Big East Offensive Player of the Week on Monday as a result, but more about that later.
From a team perspective the weekend was more of a mixed bag. Last week we suffered from what I'll call TGIF (Thank Goodness it's Friday) Syndrome against UNH, and this Friday's game against Villanova was also disappointing.
After playing a solid first half we struggled to pass and move off each other in the second. Despite some disjointed play Leonie Geyer and Lauren Brooks scored two goals each, with Kelsey "Captain Kellbell" Millman adding one. Although a 5-2 wins looks OK on paper, we technically lost the second half 2-1. In our post-game meeting team and staff agreed there was a lot to work on at Saturday's practice.
Ange Bradley's dad, Walt, was in town for the weekend, observing all the games from his usual perch in the back row of the bleachers. He informed Emma Russell and Alyssa Manley that Kent State looked tough and that the football pads we wear in practice to prevent injuries might be advisable for the game. Alyssa, who finds absolutely everything funny, nearly fell through the gap in the bleachers she was laughing so hard.
During the game against Villanova I was approached by a Kent State parent who informed me, "Aren't you a Syracuse player? Why are you here." In an attempt to avoid any confrontation I smiled and pretended English was my second language.
Speaking of language barriers, Assistant Coach Natalie Barrett's Glaswegian parents visited Syracuse over the weekend and witnessed just how much their daughter's Scottish accent has been corrupted. As a Kent State alum, Natalie was in extra special fist pumping mode on Sunday, and there was little evidence of TGIF syndrome on the field.
Jordan Page, who's also partial to the odd fist clench, celebrated her goal in typically understated style: all business, minimal smiling. Freshman Erin Dickey, Sarah Clark and Jess Jecko got some valuable minutes and Anna Crumb even ventured into the attacking 25, combining with roommate Stephanie Hussey for a goal in the 7-1 win.
But statistically it was Liz's day, scoring once and handing out three assists. To celebrate, loyal teammate and friend Adrian Chambers has been trawling EBay ever since, in search of the perfect Lulu Lemon headband. I'm concerned Adrian's strict core stability workout program might suffer in the process.
Moving into this weekend against Rutgers and Princeton we're paying attention to details in practice so, come game day, we don't succumb to TGIF Syndrome. And for those that were wondering, Dan got the stain out.
ENTRY 2: Sept. 11
Assistant coach Steve Simpson is a fairly unflappable man. So when he starts referring to the team as, "PEEEPAL" (for example "People, why are you passing to the other team," "People, why aren't you aware of each other," People, be mindful," or just "PEEEPAL?") in the half time talk, you know things aren't going well.
Cue Friday night's game against the University of New Hampshire, which also happens to be an old Simpson coaching haunt. We walked onto the field with the paparazzi, also known as Alyssa Manley's mom Nancy, snapping away. We warmed up, the whistle blew and … we didn't play very well.
As our fans know we aim to play like sharks on the field, but Ange Bradley's half time assessment that we looked like we'd been "de-finned," left us staring awkwardly at our shoelaces. Steve uttered a few parting "PEEPALS," and we started the second half.
It was a scrappy but winning performance. I scored my first goal of the season. Unfortunately it was an own-goal. Thankfully, Lauren Brooks and Alyssa both scored (in the right net) in the last 12 minutes to ensure shark fin soup wasn't on the UNH dining hall menu that evening.
We kicked off a damp Sunday morning with a 7:40 A.M. jog along the river. Bostonians are clearly early morning runners and we spent our ten minute jog shouting "PEEEPAL" or "PUUDDLE" at oncoming obstacles. As we circled up to attempt some river side yoga, a Syracuse alum ran past screaming, "Go 'Cuse."
We played a pretty clinical morning game against Boston University with Jordan Page and Emma Russell scoring within a minute of each other in the second half. During the end of game handshakes, I think Ange may have managed to upset BU's New Zealand player by congratulating her on her Olympic bronze medal, before discovering they finished fourth.
Our win was rewarded with an hour long jaunt around the Harvard campus: but Harvard saw us coming. An attempt to use campus bathrooms was blocked by a surly woman who informed Liz McInerney and Co. that the amenities were for Harvard students only. It turns out your SUID can't buy you everything.
Firmly put in our place, we got back on the bus and, much to Stephanie Hussey's excitement, watched The Lion King. Scar is my favorite character because he's just so nasty but I tend to keep that to myself as I know Hussey is a Simba-lover.
We're back on J.S. Coyne on Friday and Sunday, and we want to see "PEEEPAL" in the bleachers. We'll even let you use the bathrooms free of charge, alum or otherwise.
ENTRY 1: Sept. 4
There's nothing like one of the worst goals in the world winning one of the biggest games in your program's history. And the honor of finally scoring, 6 minutes deep into overtime in Syracuse's game against UNC went to … well no one really knows.
Let me try to explain what playing 7 v 7 overtime feels like after playing 70 minutes against the 2nd ranked team in the country. It's like a sporty death penalty. You know its going to end at some point. But its either going to be horrific, your going to be too far gone to feel a thing, or someone's going to come running in from somewhere saying you're off the hook.
Thankfully Emma Russell, hereafter referred to as Rusty, saved the day. We won an APC after 6 minutes of painful 7 aside. Ange Bradley had called the first corner before the start of overtime but as I looked around the right people weren't on the field. We huddled up at the top of the circle and started babbling like fools.
Then Gill Pinder came running into the huddle claiming she was to push out. Liz McInerney looked at her with the glazed eyes of someone who has entered a whole knew level of not being able to process simple information. Leonie Geyer and Rusty looked a bit sweaty but otherwise unphased. I was glad to be on the field, having just served a 2-minute green card suspension for using the wrong side of my stick. We broke for the corner, and as I stood in my designated position all I could think was, "If we mess this one up, its on Gill!"
Gill inserted and chaos started unfolding. The stop was poor; the pass didn't go where it was supposed to. You could hear the crowd make the collective "OHHHHH" sound when everything's going wrong. Then Leonie opened her mouth for the first time on a hockey field and said, "Shoot!" Suddenly the ball was flying in, pin-balling against what felt like 100 sticks (but was probably only one) and sneaking off the goalkeeper's pad into the back of the net.
The noise that came from my mouth is something that, as a young woman, I'm kind of embarrassed about. But as I started bouncing around making this awful guttural scream I realized I was one of many as teammate after teammate came roaring off the sidelines into dog pile number one of our 2012 season.
Amidst the celebrations everyone was asking everyone else who scored. And after about 20 minutes of awarding and stripping various players of the honor it was our skinny Rusty Irish freshman who got the crown on her head.
If you look at our result with a clear head it's just win number 3 of a long season. But if you look at it through the dehydrated, nerve frazzled, "all I want to do is get off this field and eat everything at Adrian Chamber's mom's tailgate" eyes of anyone invested in Syracuse Field Hockey, it was one of those days in sport that you live for.
-Iona Holloway
