In the United States, hunting birds of prey is a highly illegal event.
Nonetheless, the Massachusetts field hockey team will head down to Philadelphia to do just that, taking on the St. Joseph’s Hawks on Saturday and the Temple Owls on Sunday.
It will be two pivotal conference games for the Minutewomen [6-7, 3-0 Atlantic 10], who are riding high after three straight wins against LaSalle, West Chester and Rhode Island.
“Conference momentum is huge,” Maroon and White Head Coach Patty Shea said. “And winning does a lot for your momentum. Now we are starting to see results happening exactly when we wanted it to happen – in conference.”
In contrast to UMass, Temple has been diving like a bird with clipped wings. After beginning the year 4-0, the Owls have struggled mightily of late, and have dropped nine of their last 11 games. Even in conference, where it generally finishes near the top of the standings, Temple has failed to perform up to expectations, and has dropped both of its A-10 contests.
St. Joe’s, on the other hand, has been soaring high, despite the fact that a 2-1 loss to Drexel recently ended a five-game win streak. Coming off that game, the Hawks will undoubtedly be looking to get back on track against the Maroon and White this weekend.
Leading the St. Joseph’s offense will be Brett Dymarczyk, who is leading her team in scoring with seven goals despite playing in only nine of her squad’s 13 games. Backing her up will be well-rounded standouts Kelly Butler (four goals, five assists), Kathy Sokalski (five goals, three assists) and Amie Schmoltze (four goals, three assists).
Sokalski has especially shined in pressure situations, with four of her scores proving to be the eventual game-winner.
“We always have a barnburner with St. Joe’s,” Shea said, whose defense will be assigned to try and shut down the potent Hawk attack.
On the year, St. Joseph’s has posted an 8-5 (2-0 A-10) record, with big wins against Providence, Temple and Richmond. Of course, it has not come close to playing as many big name teams as the Minutewomen, and according to UMass midfielder Kristen Hopwood, that should give her squad the distinct advantage.
“We are undefeated in conference and that is the important part,” the sophomore said, who knocked home her first career goal in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Rhode Island. “We are playing teams other teams in our conference wouldn’t dare to play.”
Whether or not the Maroon and White practices well will be another factor going into this weekend’s games. So far, UMass has tended to play a lot better after a good practice, and it is hoping to continue that trend before traveling down to Philly.
“An important key for us is to take what we are doing in practice and carry it over to the games,” sophomore netkeeper Ashley Egland said, who is coming off two straight shutouts. “We have had fabulous practices before all our wins and we had a horrible practice before the game against Providence (a 1-0 UMass loss).”
One certainty about the upcoming Atlantic 10 action is that these contests are important for all those involved, especially the Minutewomen.
“This weekend is crucial,” Egland said. “It is just a critical two games for us.”
And because of this, it is another certainty that all three teams will be giving it their all.
“Our conference hates us,” Hopwood said. “It’s going to be an all-out war.”
Game time is 12 noon for both contests.
