The St. Joe’s field hockey team, led by three, fifth-year captains, will have to tap into their “fight and grit” if they are going to achieve what they want to in 2021.

The Hawks have a tough schedule, perhaps the toughest in program history, according to fifth-year midfielder and co-captain Cassidy Atchison. They are set to play eight teams currently ranked inside the top 25 teams in the country, three of those eight being ranked in the top ten.

Atchison is confident in her team’s ability to win some of the games against ranked opponents.

“Any ACC, Big Ten, or top-ranked opponent is a really good test for us,” Atchison said. “I think with this year’s team, we’re going to be coming out on top of a lot of those tests.”

On Aug. 29, the team traveled to College Park, Maryland to face the ninth-ranked University of Maryland Terrapins. Though the Hawks eventually fell in double overtime 4-3, Atchison said the game proved the team’s ability to bring the fight to their matches.

“That was a really good result for us despite not getting the win,” Atchison said. “That’s a really good foundation to build on.”
Despite the strength of the team’s opponents, fifth-year back and co-captain Nicholl Fenton said it doesn’t matter who is next on the schedule, it is just about getting better every practice.

“Every day, we’re striving to get better, no matter what the weekend looks like or who we play,” Fenton said.

Atchison said training at the level they want to play at has worked for them so far and will be important for the team throughout the season.

“Work rate, 100% effort, and leaving your jersey better than you found it are all core values for us,” Atchison said.

According to fifth-year forward and co-captain Manon van Weezel, the three captains all have their own unique way of leading the team in the right direction.

“I think because I’m an international [player] I can help the new incoming international players,” van Weezel said. “We have 12 new players, and a lot of them are international, so I think I can help that group of the newcomers.”

Fenton said Head Coach Lynn Farquhar has given the captains a lot of tools to use for leading the team.

“Lynn has definitely prepared us well,” Fenton said. “ She isn’t afraid to let us go off on our own and really lead the team how we see fit.”

Van Weezel said the Hawks are hoping to soar to new heights in their 2021 campaign.

“When we talked about our goals and preseason, we all definitely want to make it to the Atlantic 10 Championships (A-10s),” van Weezel said. “We also want to do something that hasn’t been done before in this program, which is making it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.”

The Hawks host #4 University North Carolina on Friday, Sept. 10 and #8 Rutgers University on Sunday, Sept. 12.