WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University field hockey team hopes to make their improvements and bring tenacity for the 2022 season. The Colonels finished the 2021 season with a 4-12 record overall and 2-6 in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play. Charlotte MacDonald looks for the team to make strides in their play as she enters her second season as the head coach for the Navy and Gold.
 
"They put in alot of hard work throughout our spring season and into summer, which is evident, and fitness returning in a far better space and skill than we were last year," said MacDonald. "So feeling really good about that. Just excited to build off the success we had and keep going."
 
Junior Jordan Pugh (Plains, PA/James M. Coughlin) returns to continue her defensive work for the Colonels as she earned All-MAC Freedom honorable-mention last season, helping the Wilkes defense only allow 3.43 goals-per-game to opposing conference teams. Pugh also added two assists to her resume as well last season. She is anchored in the defensive side with returning goalkeeper junior Carly Eidle (East Greenville, PA/Upper Perkiomen). Eidle started all 16 games for the Navy and Gold, recording 147 saves and a .687 saving percentage last season. Seniors Abigail Davis (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood) and Maura Hensel (Selinsgrove, PA/Selinsgrove) round out the returning defenders for Wilkes. Davis had seven shots on goal while Hensel had six, with both players recording an assist last season.
 
"They've been working really hard these sessions," remarked MacDonald. "The small things of spending time off the field and building those relationships which are going to strengthen their bond on the field, we are in a really good spot this preseason so far."
 
In the midfield unit, graduate student Lauren Shiplett (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood) and sophomores Bridget Rosenfeld (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa), Lexie Nevel (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick), and Kellie Scott (Northport, ME/Kents Hill) look to help in the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Shiplett moves to the midfield unit after spending her time as a defender during her undergraduate time for Wilkes where she earned First Team All-MAC Freedom honors in 2018 and 2019. Rosenfeld finished third on the team in points (9), assists (2), and goals (2) last season, while Scott earned three points last season, with one goal and assist.
 
"One of my favorite moments is that transition from that high school player to that collegiate athlete," MacDonald explained. "Our returners have had that moment last season. They are in a place where they are able to help our first years and transfers, first year members of the program, into fast tracking that process. They now have the capacity to articulate and really help each other out; break down why we are doing drills and connecting it to the larger picture of the game, quick systems, and better decision making. It's been cool to see their growth as individuals and leaders within the program."
 
Sophomore forward Morgan Millard (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg Area) returns to work on the offensive unit for the Colonels. Millard started all 16 games last season, while she is backed up with fellow sophomore Lizzie Carter (Elizabethtown, PA/Elizabethtown).
 
MacDonald looks to her incoming players to make an impact and bring a spark for the Colonels, as she brings in first years Cadence Gardiner (Watsontown, PA/Warrior Run) and McKenna Budzak (Sweet Valley, PA/Lake-Lehman) as defenders. Senior Devon Donley (Dauphin, PA/Bishop McDevitt), juniors Bailey DeJesus (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) and Anmarie Lebron (Pennsauken, NJ /Pennsauken), and sophomore Amber DeJonge (Grands Rapids, MI/Forest Hills Eastern) round out the newcomers for the Colonels.
 
"They've been making really good impact in different ways, having different strengths," MacDonald said. Amber is going to be a two sport athlete, playing ice hockey. She's bringing alot of tenacity and aggression and speed with that. McKenna and Cadence are just nice and calm presence. Bailey has been working really, really hard, so she has been a good surprise for us as well."
 
The Colonels begin their season with in back to back home games at Schmidt Stadium, as they play Elmira College tonight, September 1 at 7:00 p.m. and York College of Pennsylvania on Saturday, September 3 at 1:00 p.m. Wilkes begins MAC Freedom play as they travel to King's College on Saturday, September 17 at 5:00 p.m.
 
The Colonels, playing in their final season of MAC Freedom conference play, look to keep momentum going from last season, winning two out of their last three conference games.