Early season struggle
Field hockey has seen everything go wrong after a NorPac championship last year
After winning the NorPac Championship last season and returning nearly every player, Lady Flames field hockey would never have imagined starting the year 1-3. But a mixture of a challenging schedule, an injured star and uneven play has led to their worst start in program history.
Still, the Lady Flames have reason to believe they can build on last season’s unprecedented success. While they have started 1-3, the Lady Flames have faced the No. 9 and 12 teams in the country in Old Dominion (ODU) and Stanford.
A tough schedule is not accidental. Lady Flames Head Coach Jodi Murphy scheduled teams like Stanford and ODU early in the season, and top-tier teams like current No. 2 North Carolina and No. 4 Duke to test her team. While the Lady Flames went 17-5 last year, they had one of the worst strengths of schedules in the nation of teams who made the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament.
The biggest blow of all has been missing high-scoring co-captain Natalie Barr, who had knee surgery in the spring and has not been fit to play. The oldest of three sisters on the squad, Barr scored 19 goals in 22 games last season. To put that in context, the next highest goal-scorer on the team was Ashlee Krulock with 10.
“It’s hard to have Natalie (Barr) on the sideline,” Murphy said. “She’s more of the enforcer of our two captains. She is doing the best that she can to rally the troops (from the sideline).”
Not only is Barr a leader with her play, but she is the team’s vocal leader as well. After the loss to ODU, she gathered her teammates near midfield and gave a passionate speech of encouragement, despite watching the game from the bench. Murphy said there was no timetable on Barr’s return, only saying the team is hopeful she will be back this season.
The Lady Flames have struggled to find scoring in Barr’s absence, only notching five goals in their first four games. Murphy said Sarah Gipe, who leads the team with six shots on goal, is key in initiating the offense in Barr’s absence. Gipe only started eight games last year due to some injury problems, but scored 13 goals in 21 starts as a freshman.
Senior co-captain Helen Dolittle is the anchor of the Lady Flames defense, and even in losses, she has made plays on both sides of the field. While naturally quiet, Dolittle has become more vocal in the offseason, stepping up as the leader among the seniors on the squad. (Mercedes Cox is the only other senior
who starts).
“(Dolittle) was all over the field (against ODU),” Murphy said. “She was making huge defensive plays for us. I can’t say enough about her fitness and her heart.”
Even with a rough start, there is reason for optimism for the Lady Flames. They started 2-2 last season and finished with a 17-5 mark on the year, and that slow start came with Barr on the field. A Sept. 19 home date with No. 11 Wake Forest will not make things easier for the Lady Flames, but they are all on the
same page.
“We’re inches away,” Dolittle said. “(The ODU game) was definitely a disappointing loss, but we want to use it to continue firing us up. We’re going to go into practice and work really hard this week.”