Fall is upon us, which means that Colgate sports are back in full swing. With the weather nearly perfect, there is no better time to get out and support fall athletics.
Women’s field hockey is looking to make a name for itself this year and bounce back from a rocky start. Senior defenseman Lily Schoonmaker spoke positively about the change in this year’s culture and the dedication that she believes will spur positive momentum for the team.
“This year has been a big change from years in the past. I think a lot of people are very bought in, and it shows through in our gameplay. We had a tough [game] against Ohio State but, just looking forward, we know that we are more than capable of performing well this season. And, with everyone bought in, it’s only a matter of time,” Schoonmaker said.
Schoonmaker also spoke about some of the team’s most important matchups that are in the pipeline. For the team, conference games are going to decide the fate of their season, and so far, the team has yet to play one — making the upcoming schedule an even better opportunity to right the ship.
“Patriot League games are going to be the most important for us this year. I really think that we are bringing a fight this year that is different from years before,” Schoonmaker said.
Women’s field hockey plays their first Patriot League game on Sept. 21 at Lehigh University. Their next home game is the day after, where they will play Mercyhurst University at Tyler’s Field.
Sophomore Dakin Ebermeyer and first-year Nelle Droege of the men’s and women’s cross country teams spoke about their respective seasons as well. Eberymeyer talked about some of the differences that he sees with this year’s team compared to last.
“Last year, our team was really young. We brought in a big freshman class, and so a lot of people didn’t have as much experience with the racing. This year, we’re returning a big group of seniors, and [we also] have a big freshman class, so I think that we can run with this experience and poise that we didn’t necessarily have last year,” Eberymeyer said.
Ebermeyer also spoke about cross country’s schedule and weighed in on the meets that he is most looking forward to.
“The way we structure our schedule is [that] we go to a big invitational at Lehigh in the first week of October, and that’s kind of our first big test. We’ll have our Patriot League championships [later on], and that’s the next big test, but I think the Lehigh meet is important for us because all the Patriot League teams are there, so we can really see how we stack up against our competition.”
The team also hits its stride with academics. Ebermeyer explained the dual nature of the team’s goals both on the course and in the classroom.
“As a team, we did really well in the classroom [last year],” Ebermeyer said. “We had the 11th highest GPA in the nation for division one cross country teams, so we want to crack that top ten. Continuing the academic and athletic prowess is really important for us. We just want to keep moving up in the rankings in the Patriot League, and we think we have a really good chance of doing that this year.”
Droege spoke about making the transition to life as a college student-athlete on the women’s cross country team.
“Definitely going from high school to a college team was a big switch in terms of the level that you and your teammates are on and with the practices and lifts, but with the cross country team, it’s been really easy acclimating,” Droege said. “The coaches are really understanding and flexible to your academic schedule, and all your teammates help you stay on time and adjust to the schedule.”
Droege echoed Ebermeyer’s sentiment in being enthusiastic about the test that the Patriot League championships are going to bring.
“We’re really excited for the Patriot League Championships, which are at Lafayette this year. We had a meet there [on Sept. 6] to just preview the course and get ready for that. And it doesn’t look too bad — it’s not too hilly or anything like that.”
Both men’s and women’s cross country have their next meet on Sept. 21 in Rochester, N.Y., for the Yellowjacket Invitational.
Colgate’s women’s soccer team is also looking forward to an exciting season this fall. Senior Paige Foa, an attacker on the women’s soccer team, reminisced about her time with Colgate Soccer as she commences her final season with the team.
“Soccer is something I’ve been doing for 19 years now, and this could potentially be the last year of it. But it honestly makes it just so much more memorable. I feel like each moment I’m cherishing a lot more and taking each practice and game as it is knowing that there aren’t that many left,” Foa said.
Foa echoed the sentiments of other athletes in looking at Patriot League competition as the definitive test of skill for the season.
“We’ve talked as a team about how once Patriot League [starts], it’s kind of like an entire new season is starting, so whatever happened in the past doesn’t matter — it all comes down to that. Army knocked us out of the semifinals last year, and Boston [University] is always a big one, so we know that we definitely have those on the calendar.”
Foa also talked about the chance to strike back at two opponents that the team has historically gone toe-to-toe with in terms of trading wins and losses.
“We get to play Lafayette and Lehigh at home this year. The past two years, we’ve always had them away, and those have always been games that we felt were winnable and then dropped in the last minute, so we really feel like this is the year to beat them,” Foa said.
As far as this year’s team culture, Foa had nothing but good things to say.
“Our culture this year is the best team culture I’ve ever seen in 20 years of playing team sports. We all just really love each other, and when you have that as a foundation you are able to push each other and hold each other accountable in ways that I haven’t seen in sport,” Foa said.
Women’s soccer plays their next game on Sept. 21 at Bucknell University. It will be their first Patriot League matchup of the year.
Elsewhere in the world of Colgate Sports, men’s soccer, football, men’s tennis, softball, golf and women’s hockey are all either in-season or starting their seasons very soon. It looks like the Raiders are back in action.
