The College's field hockey team will look to add another successful chapter to its already illustrious history this fall.
Fortunately, the College will return a number of key players from last year's squad.
The Lions lost only four players to graduation and restocked their roster with outstanding recruits from all around the region.
Kim Feeley and Colleen Stamler led the College last season as seniors but will not return this fall.
Both were named All-American Third Team selections by the National Field Hockey Coaches Assocation and ECAC Division III All-Stars. Stambler was also the Lions' top scorer last season.
Head coach Sharon Pfluger, who is entering her 21st year of service at the College, admits that the seniors will be missed but she believes that her squad is ready for the challenge of revamping the team.
"The seniors last year did a great job for us," Pfluger said. "Those girls had a lot of experience and they were great leaders."
Key returning players from last year's team include juniors Blair Alber, Erin Mitschke, Allison Greene and Meg Hess and seniors Kaitlin Wooster, Rosie Santiago and Kristina Beyel.
Green and Alber finished as the Lions' third and fourth leading scorers last season, respectively. A large freshman class could also play a major role in the success of the team this season.
"Last week during one of our scrimmages, we had eight freshmen out on the field at once," Pfluger said. "I'm sure that we will have a lot of freshmen playing once the regular season starts, but I'm not sure how many. Right now, we're just experimenting with a lot of different personnel changes."
The College will kick off its season at Millsersville University at 4 p.m. on Sept. 1.
The first home game will be on Sept. 3 against Ithaca College at 1 p.m.
The schedule will be quite grueling for the team, playing a total of 19 games in a two-month span.
"I think we want to take it one day at a time," Pfluger said. "I want these girls to be contenders and depending on how quickly we develop, we will determine how much of a contender this team can be."
Ultimately, the Lions have their sights set on Lexington, Va., where the Division III championship will be held on Nov. 19.
Last year, they had an excellent season, finishing out the regular season with a record of 14-6. In the first round of the NCAA Regional playoffs, the Lions defeated Springfield College 5-3 but fell to Salisbury University 3-2 in the second round.
