Since classes don’t start until the middle of September, the Northwestern field hockey team has been able to focus solely on sports during the opening portion of the season.
“It’s great for the kids to get adjusted and deal with hockey and have half the season over before they have to deal with the books,” coach Kelly McCollum said.
Able to concentrate on field hockey, the Wildcats have gone 5-4, including 4-0 at home. Senior forward Alexandra Quinn, who leads the team with 10 goals, thinks the team’s home performance is just a coincidence, but senior forward Annie Bosslet think there’s more to it.
“We always have more fans out here,” Bosslet said.
McCollum pointed out that two of those road losses came against No. 14 American and No. 2 Maryland.
But just because the Cats lost does not mean the games were disappointments, Bosslet said.
“The games that we’ve lost, we’ve played competitively,” Bosslet said. “It wasn’t like (Maryland) was a terrible loss. … Going up against them, it’s difficult no matter who you are.”
McCollum feels those losses will help the team down the road, especially heading into Big Ten play, which opens at No. 16 Michigan on Saturday. The team has already bounced back from a couple of tough road losses to get a big win. After opening the season with 3-0 losses at Northeastern and Boston University, the Cats beat a talented Miami (OH) team 3-1.
As it enters Big Ten play, NU must focus on the mantra it adopted at the beginning of the season: elevate.
“Our program philosophy this season, and the team’s thoughts on it, is that we’re going to elevate our team and elevate the Northwestern field hockey program,” McCollum said. “Already, so far we’re above .500 halfway through the season. That’s where we should be. We’ve beaten the teams that we’re supposed to beat and we’ve done it in the manner that we have the ability to skill-wise. So I’m really proud of where we are halfway through the season.”
