HARTSVILLE, S.C. - After a bright 2018 campaign, the Coker University field hockey team looks to take another step in 2019.
The Cobras were picked third in the South Atlantic Conference Carolinas Preseason Coaches' Poll after a 6-7 season last year that included a 5-5 mark in conference. The Cobras fell in the conference tournament semifinals to defending league champion Limestone. Coker landed three players on the Preseason All-Conference Teams in Amelia Gajewski (First Team), Alyssa Baronella-O'Toole (Honorable Mention) and Kelly Mason (Honorable Mention). Gajewski led the Cobras in goals (nine) and points (19) a season ago, while also contributing one assist on the season. Her goal total was tied for fourth in the conference, while her point total was sixth. Baronella-O'Toole was also a major contributor in her first season at Coker, leading the team and finishing second in the conference in assists with six. She also scored two goals for a total of 10 points, which was third on the team. Mason was also an offensive force during last year's season, finishing second on the team in goals (six), assists (four) and points (16). Her goal total was tied for eighth in the league, while she tied for seventh in assists and also tied for eighth in points. Head coach Kat Lind was also named the league's Coach of the Year.
Going into 2019, Lind hopes to elevate the program to new heights.
"Ultimately our goal is to advance to the postseason and compete for a conference championship," said Lind. "This team has a lot of talent and I'm excited to see what they can do this season."
The team returns ten players from last season, while also bringing in nine freshmen. Lind is pleased with how the two groups have meshed and how the new players have integrated themselves into the team.
"The upperclassmen did a fantastic job making sure they contacted all of the freshmen over the summer," said Lind. "When everyone arrived on campus, the bond was already formed so that made it easy to translate that chemistry onto the field."
Lind stated that she will look to the group of upperclassmen to lead the team this year.
"Now that we are a second-year program, it's been great to see how they've shown leadership both on and off the field to mentor the freshman class."
The season begins with league games against Newberry (Sept. 7), Mount Olive (Sept. 11), Belmont Abbey (Sept. 14) and Converse (Sept. 15), before the team heads north to face Frostburg State (Sept. 21) and Slippery Rock (Sept. 22) in non-conference action. Coker hosts Queens (N.C.) on Sept. 25, before wrapping up September with a trip to Limestone on the 28th. The Cobras open October with six straight road games, facing Newberry in league play on (Oct. 2) before taking another trip north to face Pace (Oct. 6) and Molloy (Oct. 7). The Cobras come back into league play on Oct. 15 at Mount Olive, before wrapping up the road trip with stops at Converse (Oct. 20) and Queens (N.C.) (Oct. 22). The regular season concludes with a three-game homestand, with games against Belmont Abbey (Oct. 23), Bellarmine (Oct. 26) and Limestone (Oct. 29).
"Our entire schedule is extremely challenging," said Lind. "We will play at least two teams this year who were nationally-ranked last year and we also play in an very competitive conference. It's nothing new to this squad though! Last year in our inaugural season, we played multiple nationally-ranked teams as well, so this squad is ready for it!"
The Cobras open the 2019 slate against conference foe Newberry on Sept. 7 at 2:00 p.m.