St. Margaret's Field Hockey Team Heads to State Playoffs

Contact: Jenni Brockman
Telephone: (804) 443-3357
Fax: (804) 443-6781

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

St. Margaret's Field Hockey Team Enjoys Successful Season, Heads to State Playoffs

Faith Hill's country hit, "This Kiss," has become the self-proclaimed anthem of this season's St. Margaret's varsity Field Hockey Team. Field Hockey is not the only team getting a "boost from music" this fall (see Varsity Volleyball article); apparently, the good vibes are working! Like the SMS Volleyball team, the Field Hockey team won both the regular season and the Division II League of Independent Schools (L.I.S.) conference championships.

St. Margaret's Senior / Tri-Captain Leslie Newman takes the field amidst a jubilant SMS crowd during team introductions at last week's L.I.S. tournament championship, game 2 versus Steward.

While most teams rely on the energy of Rock and Roll music to elevate their emotions for a big game, St. Margaret's girls find the answer in country music. Whether on the "Gourmet Cheese" bus en route to an away game or walking across the street to the "home turf" of Gilchrist Field, one can hear the girls belting out the chorus of their favorite song, "It's the way you love me/It's a feel like this/It's centrifugal motion/It's perpetual bliss." Motivational stuff? A country love ballad? The team's record speaks for itself.

The 1998-99 Scotties finished with a 10 -2 -1 record. One of their two losses occurred in a pre-season tournament when SMS fell to Collegiate 1 - 0. The second loss occurred mid-season as Trinity topped SMS 4 - 0. SMS earned respect over the course of the season as the dominant team in the conference, winning the L.I.S. regular season title with a record of 7 - 1 - 1.

As the top seed, SMS was the team to beat in last week's L.I.S. Division II tournament. The Scotties won a tough first round match versus Steward 1 - 0. This set up the championship game with Trinity, played on Friday afternoon, November 6, 1998. The teams, having split their two regular season games, played a heated match; both sought revenge for their earlier loss. SMS Senior/Tri-Captain, Elizabeth Sadler, scored just prior to the half to pull the Scotties even with Trinity at 1 - 1. The second half was scoreless, sending the game to overtime. The Scotties' Sara Shelton, a ninth grader, scored the only goal in overtime, giving the team a 2 - 1 victory.

Following the tournament, League coaches announced the 1998-99 L.I.S. All Star Team. Elizabeth Sadler, Katie Farmer, and Leslie Newman were selectees. Newman and Sadler, along with fellow senior Kim Houck, are team tri-captains.

"We really played to our strengths out there and minimized our mistakes," said Head Coach, Marcy Wemple following the Scotties tournament win. "It was awesome!" adds an enthusiastic Coach Wemple (still grinning ear-to-ear), 2 days following the game. However, Assistant Coach Jo Jo McKinley was quick to point out that the season is far from over. "Although we are extremely proud of all that we have accomplished to date, we are looking forward to hosting the first round of the state playoffs next week," says Coach Jo Jo. Gilchrist Field, adjacent to the SMS campus, will be the site of the first round of the playoffs, SMS versus Covenant, which were played earlier this week on Tuesday, November 10, 1998 (results unavailable before press time).

The SMS team would like to express their thanks to the dynamic Manager/Scorekeeper duo of Truc Pham and Ann Wang who have faithfully been on the sidelines all season long. Sophomore Britt Faulkner summed up the season best by saying, "A lot of teams in the league haven't taken us seriously, as an athletic school, but I hope this year's team has answered any of their doubts."

A great season, indeed! Keep singing girls!!

1998-99 Team Stats (through 11/7/98):

Scorers: Laura Austin 1, Anne Bruce 1, Carol Combs 3, Taylor Ellis 1, Katie Farmer 5, Ginny Moncure 1, Sara Shelton 1, Elizabeth Sadler 12.

Assists (1st and 2nd assists): Anne Bruce 2, Carol Combs 4, Katie Farmer 5, Britt Faulkner 2, Kim Houck 1, Ginny Moncure 1, Leslie Newman 1, Sarah Newman 1, Elizabeth Sadler 7.