The Roadrunner’s field hockey team desperately needed a win after losing six games in a row this season; the DeSales University Bulldogs did not afford them that oppurtunity during Thursday's home game.
After a scoreless first half, DeSales freshman Tess Luzi scored the game’s first only goal five minutes into the second half to lift the Bulldogs over the Roadrunners by the score of 1-0.
“I think individually, we had some strong play. Now, it’s putting it and meshing us all together; you know, strong play as a team,” said Ramapo’s third year head coach Jane Koeniges. “We did much better last game than we did the game before in a lot of different areas.”
After the DeSales goal, The Roadrunners were not able to generate much offensively. Ramapo was outshot 9-3 in the second half and 22-7 in the game.
Postgame, senior and Roadrunner’s captain Kristen Shea said that her team needed to bring more to the field after the DeSales goal.
“We need to keep our intensity up the entire time because that was basically our fault,” Shea said.
Freshman goalkeeper Emily Wisneski did everything she could to keep the Roadrunners in the game, registering 17 saves for a .944 save percentage, the best of her college career so far.
The Bulldogs are a member of the Freedom Conference, part of the Mid Atlantic Conferences and improved their overall record to 4-2 with the win over the Roadrunners.
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners will shift their focus to a series of upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference contests, including games against Richard Stockton College, Kean University and William Paterson University.
With a record of 0-1 in the NJAC so far this season after a 7-0 loss to The College of New Jersey on Sept. 16, the Roadrunners will want to try take a positive away from their recent struggles and grow as a team.
“It’s very important—actually it’s probably where you learn the most from. We did learn a lot; the good things, the successes that we had and also things that we could work better on,” Koeniges said. “But definitely you have to take that away from every experience. Every time we step on the field whether it’s practice or whether it’s a game.”
The Roadrunners next game is Saturday, when they visit Richard Stockton in a NJAC matchup. Stockton is currently 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the NJAC after defeating William Paterson on Sept. 20, 3-2 in double over time.
The team will be looking to pick up its first win in a NJAC game since a 2-1 overtime win against Kean University on Sept. 25, 2012, and will make a push to qualify for the NJAC post season tournament for the first time in the team’s 11 year history.
“We just got to play every team like they’re the number one team in the nation,” Shea said. “I feel like [we played] down to DeSales’ level and we can’t do that because we don’t play our best game and we make simple errors that cost us the game just what happened there.”
pmcguire@ramapo.edu
