Field Hockey gains extra recovery time

Due to Tuesday's tragic events, the Penn field hockey team canceled its two scheduled matches last week.

Members of the team felt that this was a necessary and important decision.

"Out of respect, it was the best decision," junior midfielder Hayley Lofink said. "We were emotionally and mentally drained, and were not ready to play."

While the Quakers did not take to the field for a game, they did hold practices, which allowed time to discuss and share feelings and brought out a sense of patriotism from many members of a Quakers team that was shocked and saddened by the tragic events.

None of the team members were directly affected by the events in New York and Washington, yet members of the squad were shaken.

The Quakers attempted to recuperate and continue to achieve their goals as a team as they resumed practices.

"We did our best to maintain some sense of normalcy," Lofink said.

Friday, the team ended practice at 7 p.m. in order to allow its members to attend a prayer vigil on the College Green.

The cancellation of the two games, tragic as the circumstances were, ironically could not have come at a better time for the Quakers.

Coming off two hard losses to St. Joseph's and Ohio State, a Red and Blue squad that is on a seven-game losing streak going back to last season could use a fresh start and a few days to regroup.

Last week's cancellations included matches against Villanova (2-1) on Wednesday, and Harvard (1-1) on Saturday. The Quakers lost in overtime to both teams last season.

The match against Villanova has already been rescheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. at Franklin Field.

With no imminent games, practices last week were less stressful and gave the team a chance to try out some new strategies.

The next scheduled game for the Quakers is on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Franklin Field against a Lafayette squad that gave the Red and Blue their first win last season.

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