Local trio leads Duke field hockey to No. 2 ranking
TheDukeUniversity field hockey teamhas started the season with four straight victories and three area athletes are key performers for the Blue Devils, currently No. 2 in the country.
Redshirt freshman Sammi Steele has done the job in goal and senior Heather Morris and junior Alyssa Chillano are putting points on the board.
Steele, from Eagleville (Methacton), has given up just three goals with 20 saves and has two shutouts – 1-0 over No. 6 Maryland and 4-0 over No. 13 Liberty. In the Maryland game, she had a college career-high nine saves. She followed that effort up with seven saves in a 3-2 overtime victory over Northwestern – both games played the weekend of Sept. 3-4 in Lancaster.
“Sammi was outstanding, just outstanding,” veteran coach Pam Bustin told the media after the Maryland game. “Shemade some great saves and that really gave us the energy we needed to keep the ball going forward.”
Morris, from Pottstown (Owen J. Roberts), and Chillano, from Phoenixville (Spring-Ford) both have nine points on four goals and an assist. Chillano has three game-winners – against Northwestern, Liberty and William & Mary. She was named Atlantic Coast Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior quarterback opened the football season by leading Juniata to a 31-26 victory over Grove City on Sept. 3. He hit 17 of 34 passes for 267 yards and had touchdown tosses of 32 and 10 yards.
“I think what we saw from Hank was a great example of the maturation and growth we have seen from him through the offseason and at preseason camp,” offensive coordinator Scott Knapp said. “Despite some early mistakes by our whole offense, he stepped up and picked us up. He consistently made plays, with both his feet and his arm.”
Coyne had a breakout year last season when he hit 160 of 315 passes for 1,900 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The redshirt junior is starting in the backfield once again for theMichigan State field hockey team.
She has helped the 3-1 Spartans limit foes to just seven goals. She had two assists in a 7-1 victory over CentralMichigan. Heading into this season, Vagnoni played in 34 games the previous two seasons after sitting out her freshman year.
The 6-foot1, 200-pound junior started at free safety for the Villanova football team which was beaten 28-7 in the season opener by Pittsburgh of the Atlantic Coast Conference, a Football Bowl Subdivision team, on Sept. 3 in Pittsburgh. He had four tackles. Last season, Stewart played in all 11 games for the Wildcats and had 17 tackles, including 12 solos.
The freshman forward collected her first collegiate point with the St. Joseph’s women’s soccer team when she assisted on the winning goal in the season-opening 2-1 overtime victory over Seton Hall. She had two assists in a 3-1 triumph over Towson on Sept. 2. She has taken six shots, three on goal, but is still looking for her first score. The Hawks opened with a 3-1 record, the loss a 1-0 decision against Rutgers the only blemish.
The freshman scored what proved to be the winning goal as Holy Cross opened its field hockey season with a 3-2 victory over Siena on Aug. 26. She has started all three games at midfield for the Crusaders who started the season at 1-2 after losses to Ivy League teams Harvard (2-1 in double overtime) and Columbia (5-2).
The freshman scored Longwood’s second goal late in the first half and it proved to be a winner as the Lancers posted a 2-1 women’s soccer victory over Duquesne on Sept. 2. It was her first collegiate goal and one of just four goals that 1-4 Longwood has scored in the early going. Kupsov had 65 goals and 45 assists in her four years at OJR.