At the beginning of the season, St. Joe’s field hockey team returned to the newly-renovated Ellen Ryan Field, complete with a new playing turf. It took less than four months for the Hawks to make history on their new field.
St. Joe’s secured its spot in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 win over Princeton on Ellen Ryan Field Nov. 17, marking the first time in program history the Hawks will be playing in the NCAA semi-final. The Hawks also set a new program record with their 19th win of the season.
“Everybody always says we’re so small. I said in my pregame speech, nobody believed in us, nobody,” said fifth-year back Kate Crist. “Everybody counted us out. We went in here as the four seed, and we were still, somehow, the underdogs. We will take that, and we’ll wear that proudly.”
Another advantage the Hawks had was hosting, something head coach Hannah Prince said spoke to “the hard work the girls have put in building up to this moment.”
“I think that we’ll fight to the end, and doing it on your home turf is a huge advantage,” Crist said. “I mean, the crowd, you know how the surface plays, it was awesome.”
At both their game against Lafayette in the first round and against Princeton in the quarter-finals, a sea of St. Joe’s fans, humans and canines alike, lined the sidelines and the bleachers. Even Mother Nature seemed to be rooting for the Hawks with two high 50-degree days. However, one of the largest sources of support was from the student-athlete community, something fifth-year back Julia Duffhuis said she believed helped the team.
“It’s amazing. I’ve been hearing around that coaches are not canceling practice but letting players go early, or even professors as well, because it’s a very big thing on campus,” Duffhuis said. “I think everybody is very excited for us, and they want to share that joy. They want us to succeed.”
After scoring the only goal of the game against Lafayette Nov. 15, junior forward Alison Buffington said not just making it to this point but doing so at Ellen Ryan Field has been “such a unique experience.”
“It’s definitely a surreal experience being able to play on our home turf in front of our home fans at our school, having all our sports team coming, knowing that this is the NCAA Championship, and we are hosting it,” Buffington said.
Fifth-year midfielder Celeste Smits, who put up a fight defensively against Princeton while also being the only goal scorer of the game, said it was the fans who helped her remain grounded after getting the Hawks on the board with less than five minutes left in the game.
“As soon as I felt that energy from the fans and family, I was like, ‘Okay, we got to lock back in because we’re not done yet,’” Smits said.
The Hawks played their last game of the season at home and will now head to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to face the reigning NCAA champions, University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels have won the past two titles, for five in the past six years and 11 total. Despite going head-to-head with the top program in the country, Prince said her approach won’t waiver as the Hawks prepare for the matchup.
“We always are so dedicated to what we do and our scout report,” Prince said. “It’s just something that, as coaches, we take great passion in, and my staff does an incredible, incredible job.”
As for the lack of belief Crist said surrounded the Hawks, Prince said they will rely on their belief in each other and carry it with them into their Nov. 22 game.
“I just am so proud of the girls, and the belief that they’ve had this whole season has been incredible,” Prince said. “That’s the same belief we have to have going into our Final Four game on Friday.”
