Before their match against Pace University on Thursday, Sept. 29, the LIU Post field hockey team earned the no. 1 overall ranking as voted on in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division II Poll.
They remain the nation’s only undefeated team in Division II.
As for the game itself, the LIU Post Pioneers handled the Pace University Setters easily and won 4-1 to improve to 7-0 on the season.
The Pioneers got on the board early in the match thanks to a score on a penalty stroke.
Freshman midfielder Arantxa Rosainz Caloca notched the first of her two goals in the tenth minute to put the Pioneers on top 1-0.
The Setters got their opportunity to even the score in the same way, but senior goalie Ericka Parks blocked the shot — keeping the Pioneers in front.
The 1-0 score held until halftime.
In the later half, the Pioneers were again awarded a penalty stroke and senior midfielder Steph Mocerino buried the shot to double the Pioneers’ advantage.
After that tally, sophomore forward/midfielder Emily Miller and Rosainz Caloca followed up with scores to widen the gap for the Green and Gold.
The Setters got on the board in the 60th minute to make it 4-1, but did very little to make the Pioneers sweat late in the game.
The shot totals told the story of who was controlling the game — the Pioneers held a 21-10 advantage.
“We continue to take it one day at a time and focus on only the game ahead of us,” Head Coach Raenee Savin said. “The coaching staff continues to make sure the team never underestimates their opponents and that they stay grounded, even with all of the excitement we have surrounding our recent success.”
The Pioneers continued their quest for a perfect season when they welcomed no. 7 ranked Saint Anselm College to Brookville, for an NE-10 conference showdown on Saturday, Oct. 1.
The Pioneers were pushed to the limit, but like every other match this season, came out victorious.
With the win, the Pioneers improved to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play and knocked off the Hawks from Saint Anselm College who came into the match tied atop in the conference standings. They dropped to 8-2 and 3-1 in NE-10 play.
The Pioneers battled all afternoon and were awarded with a dramatic 2-1 overtime win although early on, it seemed like another classic Pioneer victory.
LIU Post struck first yet again — this time junior defender Grace Ilias sent a backhand passed the keeper for the quick one goal lead in the 11th minute.
The Pioneers were denied another scoring chance by a fantastic defensive play, but held the 1-0 lead at the halftime whistle.
In the second half, the Hawks got the equalizer from junior defender Erin Collins and suddenly the game was tied.
As time ticked on, regulation was not enough to decide a winner and overtime was necessary to settle the battle.
The game was screaming out for a hero from both sides and junior forward Kaycee Zelkovsky played it; firing the game-winning, walk-off goal to keep the Pioneer loss column clean.
The LIU Post field hockey team will try to make it nine in a row to start the season when they face-off against Adelphi University from Garden City on Wednesday, Oct. 5. The game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
This article was originally published in the Pioneer, LIU Post’s award-winning student newspaper that is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2016, www.liupostpioneer.com.
The article is republished by Blank Slate Media with the permission of the Pioneer.
Photo by Margaret Bernstein
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