On Wednesday, October 8th, the field hockey team beat conference opponent Catholic University in a 2-0 game, the team’s first major win in 30 years against Catholic. “We felt amazing,” Camden West ‘27 recalled how Catholic entered Goucher’s home field and hung their flag on the fence. “That’s not necessary,” said West. “There is a level of respect, and sometimes they cross that line.” Considering this, she added, “It felt very good to beat them and put them in their place.” This season, the team has had some great wins, including a 5-0 victory against Immaculata University, and another against Hood College. West described the team as “brand new, new players, new nationalities, a new team that we built.”
A memorable game was played on Wednesday, September 24th, when Goucher defeated Hood College. Wrenn Harney ‘27, said, “When we played Hood, last year we lost to them, and my freshman year, I wasn’t on the team, but the team lost to them. This year it was pretty close, 2-1. We really hustled and pushed through the entire game, and earned the win.” According to Harney, last year’s team only had two substitute players. West said of prior seasons, “Last year nothing was set in stone, but yes, we did have change. We have a very different team.”
Harney mentioned that she joined last year after encouragement from her lacrosse teammates. “My teammates were like, ‘you should play field hockey,’ and I was like, okay, I never played, so I just joined. Last year was like, let’s just play, we don’t have anything to lose, and this year we are growing that program and have [sic] people.”
West emphasized the team’s adaptability and communication on the field. “If the other team is changing, it usually means we are doing something right, ” West said. ” If we do change, at quarters or halftime, Coach will bring us all in and say, ‘we need to fix this set.’ Our coach will ask us what we see, ‘what do you think we should do?’” West continued, “At halftime, all the midfield groups up, all the defense groups and offense group up.”
Vivan Onunga ‘29 said, “Most of the time the captains set us up, so we are all focused.”
Harney added, “We really fed off each other, and when people bring us up, the motivation starts.”
As a player on defense, West has a pregame ritual. “I tap sticks with two people next to each other.” She does this with the center back player and forward player. According to her, a team routine that the entire team does is as follows: “When they are running up to line up, high five the person in front of you, and put your hands behind your backs and high five the next person,” said West.
This season the Gophers have focused on improving their offensive spacing, and cutting back to the ball. West believes that these adjustments will pay off for upcoming games. West, Harney and Onunga believe they all played well this season, with five games left until their season is officially over. West said, “ If we win two more conference games, we will make it to the post season, and will play the first round of Landmark.” Best of all luck to the Goucher field hockey team, and go Gophers!
By Alana Moore ‘26
