Field Hockey Season Officially Underway
8/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
KENT, Ohio - The Kent State field hockey team held its first practice of the season Thursday morning (Aug. 14) at Murphy-Mellis Field. A seven-member freshmen class gives the Golden Flashes 22 players on the 2008 roster.
After a taste of success in 2007, Kent State enters the '08 season with an overwhelming appetite for Mid-American Conference supremacy. The Golden Flashes return all three coaches, 11 letterwinners and seven starters from a second place (MAC) team that put a number of young players in critical roles. Among the returning starters are five legitimate scoring threats, who have each connected on six or more goals in a season.
"Coming off a much improved season, I think that in everything we do, we're thinking about a MAC championship," Head Coach Kathleen Schanne said. of the upcoming year. "It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. It's 20 games and every game counts."
With a talented group of freshmen joining the determined veterans, the Golden Flashes will look to reach their goals of having a very successful regular season and finishing strong with a MAC Tournament title. Schanne believes in a "game-by-game" approach to continue progress on the great strides the team made in 2007.
"We showed tremendous imrpovement from 2006 to 2007," Schanne said. "The winning environment we have established will continue to carry us forward."
Kent State's first competition of the 2008 season will be Thursday, August 21 with an exhibition against Robert Morris at Murphy-Mellis Field. The Golden Flashes also will open their regular season at home, hosting St. Francis Saturday, Aug. 30.
