Salve Field Hockey Set Their Sights on Victory

By: Stephanie Savage
Posted In: Sports

Anyone who has stepped foot in the women’s locker room lately has noticed the decorative posters and cards that have been plastered to the lockers by Salve’s field hockey team, a group of young women whose spirit and determination just might be enough to take them all the way.

All the way to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship that is.

“You look around our locker room and see the daily reminders the girls have of this goal,” said Jen Eldridge, head coach of the field hockey team. “Each of them visualizes how it would feel to hold that conference championship trophy and that is what drives us now as we have entered the conference play.”

With their fall season already well underway, the young women currently hold a record of six wins and four losses. Led by senior captains, Andrea Michel and Devin Eppley, the team is made up of 25 athletes from all over the northeast. Bringing a lot of new talent to the team, this year’s freshmen make up more than half the roster. Of these 14 new players, four are starters. Currently, the team also boasts the top scorer in the league, Kelly Burke. A freshman from Georgetown, Mass., Burke was also named the Commonwealth Coast Conference Rookie of the Week just two weeks into the 2009 season.

“The freshmen are a huge asset to the team this year,” said Michel, who, along with fellow-captain Eppley will be graduating this coming May. Michel also mentioned that while the remainder of the season is truly unpredictable, she is confident that they can make it all the way to the finals. “We have the speed, the heart, the talent, and the drive to do so,” Michel said.

“We believe anything is possible if we set our minds to it,” said Brittany Lopes, a junior from Lexington, Mass.

The girl’s positive attitudes, along with their apparent passion for their sport, certainly seem to be a driving force in their season’s success. Eldridge, who is now in her fourth year here at Salve, loves her job for this very reason. The girls come to practice every day and not only push themselves, but each other.

Also head coach of Salve’s women’s lacrosse team, Eldridge acknowledged that the field hockey program, in particular, has grown immensely since she first began coaching back in 2006. Aside from following an off-season training regime, the girl’s have also made great strides thanks to their strength and conditioning coach, Tom Newman.

With such a strong freshmen class, joined by the talent and experience of the sophomores and juniors, the team is sure to see a great deal of success in its future. Making it all the way to the semi-finals last year, the team is already on track to exceed past records.

“With eight games remaining in our regular season, we still have a lot of work to do in order to achieve our goal but I know this team is capable of that,” Eldridge said. “Nothing will ever get in our way.”