Tonya Botherway looks to help defend the A-10 title
On a team brimming with talent, freshman forward Tonya Botherway has already found a way to emerge as the leading goal scorer for the St. Joe’s field hockey team.
Botherway, who is from Auckland, New Zealand, has scored six goals in six games for the defending Atlantic 10 Champions. The team is ranked 14th nationally. Botherway was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week on Sept. 10. She currently ranks third in goals in the A-10 and fourth in points.
“What’s great about Tonya is that she has brought the energy to make a difference on the field from the first day,” Head Coach Lynn Farquhar said.
The energy Farquhar speaks of has produced results. In Botherway’s debut for the Hawks, she scored her first goal and hasn’t looked back since. She’s tallied a goal in all but one of her games. She scored two in the Hawks’ victory over Big 5 rival University of Pennsylvania.
“A lot of it is about being in the right place at the right time,” Botherway said. “Then my teammates allow me to get my shots away and hopefully score the goal.”
For Botherway, being in the right place also means being a long way from home. She grew up in New Zealand and transitioning to freshman year meant adjusting to a completely different culture. Her unique situation brought on challenges that most college freshmen do not have to face, but Botherway has proved she is up to the task.
“Coming from New Zealand, there’s a different environment and the style of hockey was quite different than at home,” Botherway said. “Everyone plays at such a high work rate here, which is really cool to see.”
Again, Botherway was quick to credit the role her teammates played in easing her transition.
“Everyone’s been welcoming which has made the adjustment a lot easier for me thankfully,” Botherway said. “Especially the girls on the hockey team, they’ve been really helpful towards everything.”
Botherway’s bond with her teammates is not lost on Farquhar who witnesses the benefits of this relationship both on and off the field.
“Tonya has really connected with the rest of the team and played well off of others which has been key to the success she’s had so far,” Farquhar said. “She has also done a really good job of focusing on field hockey and balancing the workload that comes with being a college student.”
With the adjustment period behind her, Botherway is now comfortable in a new country with a new team. She her sights set on doing whatever she can to continue the Hawks’ recent string of success.
“We’re all really excited to try to win the A-10 again,” Botherway said. “But at the moment we’re taking each game one at a time and doing what we can to win.”
Farquhar has the same mindset. The team has reached its highest national ranking in program history. Despite the record setting season, neither Botherway nor Farquhar’s ultimate goal has wavered.
“It’s exciting and it’s an honor to be recognized, but there is still work to be done,” Farquhar said. “It’s about the conference championship. We have multiple goals for the season and none of them have to do with the national ranking. It’s about the end goal, which is the conference.”
After falling to Duke on Sept. 16, a game that Botherway called an opportunity to see where they are as a team, The Hawks will come back home on Sept. 21 to play James Madison University.
