Hard-Luck F. Hockey Lives in Past's Shadow

Chasing a league powerhouse or a rival is one thing, but when you're trying to chase your own ghost, you're bound to be frustrated.

Take the field hockey team, for example.

Just two years ago, the team experienced what might rank as its greatest season ever. It went 13-3-2, breezed to the league title and basically established the Crimson as a legitimate contender in national field hockey circles. Coming after a 10-6-0 season in 1989 and an 11-5-1 mark in 1990, the program seemed to be on an irrepressible upswing, bound for continued excellence in the future.

But two years later, those days seem like the days of Camelot--a dreamy part of a long and distant past. Last season, the squad finished a lowly 4-9-2, good for last in the league. And this year, it fared little better, going 5-8-3 overall and 3-2 in league play.

"Sometimes it's a little frustrating," senior Deirdre Long says. "You try not to compare from year to year, because the situations were so different, but you just can't help it. I think that until we go undefeated or something, or until everybody forgets 1991, we'll be playing in its shadow."

The five seniors on this past year's squad--Long, Emily Buxton, Sarah Downing, Francie Walton and Amy Belisle--are unique in that they have each experienced an equal number of high and low years since lacing up for the first time as freshman, and they were each an integral part of both.

The funny thing is that while many team supporters will talk about the great days of 1990 and 1991, these five won't. For when it comes down to it, they know what separates a great team from a bad one in field hockey--very little.

"That's sort of the funny thing about it all," Long said. "People will ask me what the difference between then and now is, and I will tell them, honestly, luck. We had some great players back then, but, for the most part, we just got lucky a lot of times when we needed to."

It sounds like fanciful thinking, but, at least as far as the 1993 team is concerned, the argument more than holds water.

For this year's team was the consummate "hard-luck gang;" it lost a total of eight games all season, and, incredibly, all eight were decided by one goal.

Add to that total three ties which could have gone either way, and it is conceivable that the team could have gone 16-0 with a little luck.

"We can't replay it, but sometimes I wish we could," Long says. "It doesn't seem like we've been doing things much different than we did back then, the results have just been different."

Of course, the Crimson are not entirely without blame.

The squad was plagued throughout the year by serious offensive problems. The team had a tough time staying in its offense, moving the ball and getting it in the net, averaging only 1.6 goals per game.

In addition, an inability to win close games is a legitimate weakness in itself, a failure owing to a lack mental toughness or perhaps just a lack of confidence. This year's team was susceptible to both.

"Success really builds on success," Long says. "When you win, you gain confidence, which, in turn, helps you to win more. We never had that, and I think it cost us in a lot of close games.

Those are words to be taken to heart by next year's team, but it seems that its members will have more basic things to worry about than mental toughness and confidence.

The three top scorers from this year's team--Walton (eight goals), Belisle (five goals) and Downing (one goal, five assists) will all be walking today at Commencement, leaving an even bigger offensive hole in the team's line-up than existed this year.

"It's unfortunate because looking back, you can see how we were hopeful going into this year," Long says. "We had a lot of people coming back."

"In a sense, we fulfilled some of those hopes," Long adds. "For while we didn't do so well in terms of wins and losses, whenever games against tough teams come down to luck, you know you're doing something right."

FIELD HOCKEY

Record: 5-8-3

Ivy League: 3-2

Key Players: Francie Walton (8 goals, 0 assists); Amy Belisle (5 goals, 0 assists); Jessica Milhollin (142 saves,.910 save %).

Seniors: Francie Walton, Amy Belisle, Sarah Downing, Emily Buxton, Deidre Long.