This weekend in our tournament, we actually ended up playing 4 games!
Game 1: vs. Saint Mary's was a little bit scrappy and we were struggling with our new systems, positions, and players, but we managed to hold SMU to a 0-0 tie despite that. Initially we had some issues with our basic skills and we weren't using the space to the best of our abilities, but we remedied that in the last few games.
Game 2: vs. U of T. U of T is one of the top teams in the league and we really stepped it up against them in our second game. Our structure was more sound, and we were able to spread out and use the sidelines to carry the ball up the field. We had some great hits by the defense and second year Lindsay Bjornson opened the scoring in the first half. U of T tied it up in the second half, but we managed to stay cool on defense (especially on the defensive short corners) and we held them to a 1-1 tie, which, although it is only preseason, is a great improvement from last year when they beat us by huge margins. Our ball movement was a lot better this game and the midfield and defense did a great job communicating and adapting to U of T's dynamic style of play.
Game 3: vs. the Dolphins. (They are a women's league team in Toronto) We played a roster almost entirely of rookies, who have limited experience playing together for Queen's. The dolphins challenged us on our shift-and-hold defensive press because they had some really good hitters in the back field. There was no score at halftime, and in the second half we started to control the play in the midfield, using the space to move the ball around. The game ended scoreless (0-0) but it was a very good learning experience for the rookies in the preseason.
Game 4: vs. York. York was tired from a long weekend of exhibition games and we exploited this by using the space to move the ball around the field. We scored one goal in the first half, a beautiful top-shelf tip by Kara Pogue, and unfortunately the game was cut short at half because of field booking technicalities.(final score: 1-0)
Overall: this weekend was a great learning experience for our field hockey team. We became a lot more comfortable playing together. We have been undefeated in our preseason so far, but we still have a lot to work on in order to pull off the wins we need. Although we are unfortunately plagued by a few recurring, chronic injuries, we have a larger roster this year (22--with rotating red-shirts) composed entirely of reliable, skilled players. As the weekend went on we became much more cohesive as a team and we hope to build on it and carry this into our regular season. I think we have a lot of potential as a team and there are some great things to look forward to in Queen's Field Hockey.
