The Sewanee Tigers celebrate their victory against Southern Virginia. Photo courtesy of sewaneetigers.com.
By J.T. Mitchell
Staff Writer
This past weekend, the Sewanee field hockey team recorded a clean sweep over Southern Virginia, defeating the Knights 7-0 and 5-0.
Even amidst the tough start to the season in which the team dropped three close games to DePauw, Wittenberg, and Earlham, the Tigers came out ready to turn their season around.
“The start to the season was pretty tough and it definitely got us down a bit,” Ceara Caffrey (C’20) said. “I think going into this weekend we all knew we are a good team and deserved the win through hard work.”
This hard work definitely showed. In the series opener on Friday night, the team came out hot, scoring three goals in the first 10 minutes. The obliteration didn’t stop there, though, as the Tigers tacked on four more goals on their way to a 7-0 shutout over the Knights. Caffrey finished with her first hat trick of the season, while Caroline Sugar (C’22) added two goals of her own.
A mere 24 hours later, the two teams were back in action. The Tigers picked up right where they left off when Alex Hornsby (C’21) scored in the fourth minute of the game. The Knights’ defense finally woke up as they held Sewanee scoreless for the next 25 minutes until Caffrey hit a shot with 36 seconds left in the half.
The Tigers then put the Knights away with three third-quarter goals via the sticks of Hannah Bradley (C’20), Molly Wheeler (C’22), and Caffrey. The score would remain the same for the rest of the half with Sewanee coming away with a 5-0 victory.
“This weekend we played well and we loved the feeling of achieving the wins we deserve,” Caffrey said.
Caffrey finished the weekend with five goals and two assists–enough to earn her the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Offensive Player of the Week. The 2018 All-SAA first-teamer is now tied for 10th in all of Division III for goals scored.
Next up for the Tigers will be a four-game road trip, beginning with Bridgewater on September 28.