Field Hockey tries to tame Wildcats in home opener

Twenty-four years later, its effects will impact the outcome of the Penn-Lafayette game, held tonight at 7 p.m. on Franklin Field. With Jaws earning big dollars at the box office and Gerald Ford occupying the Oval Office, the "8-Nations" field hockey tournament, at McGill University in Montreal, went down in the history books as the first international field hockey competition to ever be played on a synthetic turf field. Prior to Molson Stadium's AstroTurf surface, all field hockey games had been played on slower-than-turf grass fields. Although nearly a quarter-century has passed since that fateful turf competition, some teams continue to practice and compete on grass fields. One of the few holdovers, Lafayette, visits the artificial turf at Franklin Field tonight to take on the Quakers. "Turf makes you play a more controlled game," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "The significance of ball control is much more evident on turf." This is not to say that Lafayette's Leopards have inferior stick skills or ball control or naturally play at a slower pace. However, Lafayette has definitely grown comfortable with the style of play induced by grass. The Leopards have opened 1999 with a 6-0 record. Five of those games were won on the Leopard's preferred battlefield, grass. Lafayette's only artificial turf game was a 3-2 win over Columbia -- a team which went 0-7 in the Ivies last year and is currently 1-3. Aside from that close game on artificial turf, the Leopards have cruised, outscoring their opponents 15-3. Three Pennsylvania natives -- Kim Stone, Olivia Long and Kellee Salber -- each netted a goal in the first half of play against Columbia. Despite their stellar first half, the senior triple-threat failed to repeat this performance after halftime. Taking advantage of the Leopards' slow start after the break, Columbia stormed back to shut out Lafayette and score two goals. According to Cloud, Lafayette prefers tactics which work better on grass, such as attacking up the middle. On turf, however, the ball tends to get away from the player's stick faster, making it harder to control its destination. To play at a top level tonight, the Leopards will have to adjust their style to the turf. With six seniors, including three All-Patriot League selections and a National Field Hockey Coaches Association Regional All-American, Lafayette should rise to the occasion. Penn, on the other hand, has home turf advantage in more than just the traditional sense. This advantage, however, failed to make a difference in Sunday's 3-1 loss to Penn's first Ivy opponent, Dartmouth -- but then, Penn was playing a team accustomed to artificial turf. "There is no question, Dartmouth took it to us," Cloud said. "[Penn] was not supportive of each other on the field, playing-wise nor talking-wise. It was totally out of character for us, which was so disappointing." According to Cloud, the whole team has to drastically change its physical and mental performance from Sunday's game. Instead of reacting to what its opponent deals them, the Quakers need to become more aggressive and not concentrate so heavily on positions. And if Penn plays the way it did against the Big Green, the Quakers "will be hurting," Cloud said. Although the Leopards' stick skills may not be the sharpest, Lafayette will definitely not hesitate to put constant pressure on the Quakers. Penn must play hungry and answer back with superior stick skills. If not, "[Lafayette] will just take it to us," Cloud said. After winning six in a row, Lafayette is on a natural high. "They've got the confidence," Cloud said. "They are not going to be afraid of us." Winning streak and past turf histories aside, Cloud believes Penn should win. There is a disparity between the Patriot League and the Ivy League, as seen by Columbia's tough play against undefeated Lafayette. With that in mind, the Quakers appear to be the favorite as the teams take the artificial turf.