SRU field hockey finished their 2023 season winning two of their last four matches.
The Green and White broke their seven-game losing skid by defeating Roberts Wesleyan University Tuesday, October 17 in commanding fashion with a 9-0 victory.
Following the victory, they fell to the No. 3 national ranked Kutztown University 4-0.
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) rival Mercyhurst University had no answers for SRU as The Rock netminder posted another shutout to win 2-0.
Finally, the conclusion of the season saw The Rock fight closely against No. 4 nationally ranked Bloomsburg University. Their efforts would be all for naught though as Bloomsburg prevailed 3-2.
The Rock fought hard all season long and while they may have not gotten the results they had hoped for, the game against Bloomsburg showed good things to come.
SRU played eight nationally ranked teams this season, including the entire top four. Their best performance against these ranked teams came at the end of the season with the previously mentioned performance against Bloomsburg.
Junior forward Gianna Conti led the way this year finishing her campaign with six goals in 17 matches.
Conti was closely trailed by fellow junior Leslie Colliver. Colliver posted four goals and three assists in her 15 games played.
Freshman Hillary Hoffman also impressed in her debut season wearing the Green and White. In her 17 games, she registered four goals and two assists.
Defense and goaltending began to turn it up in the latter half of the season as well, allowing only seven goals in the final four games. This is compared to The Rock’s total of eleven.
On the topic of goalkeeping, SRU will be happy to have junior Grace Burker back for one more season. She played all 17 games in 2023. Of the 230 shots she faced all season, only 44 made it past her.
Over the offseason, SRU will need to address their goal scoring as they were outscored 44 to 25 overall in 2023.
The Rock found their rhythm too late this year and will now get a full rest this offseason. They will look to get off to a faster start next year and carry that momentum throughout the 2024 campaign.
