Preseason Video Interviews

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- For just the second time in the past 11 years, the Elmira College field hockey team will open its season at home, as the Soaring Eagles kick off 2017 against Scranton at the Murray Athletic Center on Saturday, September 2, at 1:00 p.m.

Despite their two-win season in 2016, the Soaring Eagles made their calling with stingy play on the natural grass surface at the MAC. That competitiveness was on full display right from the get-go, as the Purple and Gold battled then-undefeated Oswego State into double overtime in the home opener, before ultimately falling 2-1. Three days later, Elmira and Houghton played 70 scoreless minutes, but the Highlanders were awarded a penalty corner as time expired and converted to secure a one-goal win. EC also hung around with the likes of NCAA Tournament qualifiers SUNY Geneseo and Hartwick on their home field, but alas, came up just short.

"We are really stoked to be opening up the season at home," head coach Lauren Silva said. "That is something that I tried really hard to get on our schedule because I noticed that in previous years we really hadn't been able to play at home. Being on the grass is something that we are trying to use in our favor. It will be an awesome way to start our season and will give us the ability to show our pride on our home campus."

"It's a great feeling to be starting the season off on our home turf because we have that home-field advantage with the grass," senior defender Sarah McCaffrey '18 said. "To start the year on the grass that I have been playing on for the past four years is an incredible opportunity."

Strong play at home may be a staple to the Elmira game plan once again, but after the 2017 opener against Scranton, EC will play seven of its next nine games away from the friendly confines of the MAC. That includes a rigorous season-long four-game road trip at Brockport (9/19), Stevens (9/23), Ithaca (9/27) and SUNY Geneseo (9/30). Although the schedule is back-loaded with five home contests in the final three weeks of the regular season, the first month of competition will be a demanding one.

Looking past the aforementioned midseason stretch of games away from home, the month of October is set up nicely for a strong finish. A season-long four-game homestand begins on October 7 at the MAC against reigning E8 champion, St. John Fisher, but the final six games of the season are all against teams coming off of sub-.500 records. Following the bout with the Cardinals, Elmira will host Wells (10/11), Utica (10/14) and Bryn Mawr (10/16) in a busy span of three games in six days. 

Silva's squad will be an experienced one this season, which should bode well for the Soaring Eagles as they look to ascend the standings in the always-competitive Empire 8 Conference. Ten of the 12 returning letterwinners are upperclassmen, which includes the seven seniors who make up the Class of 2018. The team also added five newcomers, four whom are freshmen, to bolster this year's roster.

"The freshmen have had a smooth adjustment thus far," said EC's third-year bench boss. "At the start of the preseason, [assistant coach] Alexa Tardif and I set out the expectations of the program. By providing that vision and direction, it has helped to get the returners and the newcomers on the same page and has helped everyone to move positively in the right direction."

Silva also noted that the EC women returned to campus in August in tremendous shape and were ready to handle the rigors of the grueling preseason.

"The game is very dependent on endurance and having this foundation of endurance coming into the season will be huge," Silva explained. "The games are 70 minutes and we have very few breaks so it will be a matter of maintaining the fitness moving forward. Being fit will allow us more time to develop more strategies and skills, as well as helping with injury prevention."

"All of the newcomers and returners have put in a lot of hard work over the summer and it really has shown during our preseason workouts," added senior forward Alison Mariano '18.

Goalkeeper
Fourth-year netminder Julie Hockenberger '18 will headline Elmira's goalkeeping duo this season alongside sophomore Tina O'Donnell '20. Hockenberger manned the cage for nearly 84 percent of the team's minutes in 2016 and will be the go-to option again as a senior. Last fall, she accumulated a career-high 145 saves and ranked 21st nationally in saves per game (9.06). As a freshman in 2016, O'Donnell saw time in four contests, including her first career start in her collegiate debut against Marywood.

Defense
Elmira's defensive corps will be a relatively young group, with McCaffrey returning as the only upperclassman on the backend. With that experience the team will look to her to provide leadership, but she also returns as one of the leading scorers from a year ago. Thanks in large part to her contributions on penalty corners the Lambertville, New Jersey, native tallied more points in 2016 (12) than her freshman and sophomore years combined and ranked among the E8's top 10 with six assists.

Second-year back liner Emily Selbert '20 will be a front-runner for starting spot, resuming the role she earned as a rookie. Senior Alyssa Hollow '18 and sophomore Jodi Ceurter '20 will be competing for minutes as well.

Freshmen Liz Shephard '21 and Holly Karalus '21 will be relied upon to provide valuable depth. Shephard is one of two rookies on this year's roster from Cazenovia High School, which advanced to the state championship game in both 2015 and 2016, while Karalus helped her Iroquois High School team win a Section VI title and qualify for the state semis as a senior.

Midfield
In addition to McCaffrey, the Soaring Eagles will also welcome back their other leading scorer and three-time Empire 8 All-Conference honoree, Atu Machika '18. She registered career highs in both points (12) and goals (5) a year ago, buoyed by a midseason three-game goal streak and a four-point outing in a win over Keuka. The standout senior, who has started every game of her collegiate career, is extremely agile, very tenacious and hardly leaves the field thanks to her non-stop motor.

A pair of juniors – Diane LeRoy '19 and Hannah Keil '19 – will accompany Machika in the midfield. The 5-foot-8-inch LeRoy stands as one of the tallest on the team and appeared in 13 games off of the bench in 2016. This fall will mark Keil's second with the EC field hockey program and she'll likely resume the starting role she earned in her debut season.

Forwards
EC's per-game scoring average dipped slightly in 2016 and Silva will rely heavily on her forwards to reverse that trend after the position provided only four goals last season. However, this year's core attack unit will be comprised of several veterans – Mariano, Katie Carroll '18, Megan Brain '18 and Matilda Kennedy-Butler '19 – making it the deepest on the roster. Of the bunch, Carroll is the leading returning point-getter. The Somerville, Maine, native has scored exactly two goals in each of her first three seasons at EC, but broke out last fall with career highs in assists (4) and points (8).

Silva will also inject some youth into the forward lines with the addition of two talented first-year student-athletes. Kelsie Aloi '21 and Janie Kempf '21 both earned all-star accolades at their respective secondary schools. Kempf was one of Shephard's high school teammates and was a key offensive cog for Cazenovia High School; as a senior she scored the game-winner in the state semifinals.

Season Opener
While opening at home has been a rarity for the Soaring Eagles, who have done so only thrice since 2002, it provides a great opportunity for Elmira to jumpstart the new campaign. Scranton, a Landmark Conference affiliate, is traditionally a strong program that won double-digit games from 2011-15 but had a down year in 2016 with a 5-12 mark. The Royals return First-Team All-Landmark Conference honoree and leading scorer, Meredith Campbell (10g, 2a), but on the grassy pitch EC's 2.88 goals-against average was nearly two goals lower than on the road. Should the Purple and Gold continue this outstanding play at the MAC they'll be up for the challenge come September 2.

"My expectations for the 2017 campaign involve us being much more competitive on the field, in and out of conference play, and using those non-conference games to build us up for our Empire 8 opponents," Silva stated.