Annika Dyczkowski ’25
Sports Editor
Bantam field hockey competed in their senior game against Middlebury College last Saturday, Oct. 14. The Tripod had the opportunity to speak with captain Molly King ’24 to discuss the team’s competition against Middlebury, the excitement of senior day and joyful reconnections of alumni weekend and how the team is preparing for their last games of the regular season.
In addition to senior day, the team anticipated playing in an alumni game following their Middlebury game. Unfortunately, the alumni game fell through, but King says that it was just as great to see past teammates nonetheless. “A lot of [alumni] were there and they came to support for the Middlebury game, so that was really nice.”
In terms of expectations, King says that the team went above and beyond to make the day as special as possible for graduating players. As part of team tradition, the freshmen decorated the locker room, the sophomores decorated the field, and juniors “spearheaded the entire thing with gifts, speeches, and flowers. It was so fun.” King recalls the seniors walking in the locker room, which was adorned with locker decorations, posters for the seniors, and “cool hats,” King digresses laughing. The sidewalk leading to Robin L. Sheppard Field also featured chalk messages from underclassmen, which “made [the day] super special,” King vocalizes. Once they had a brief team celebration, it was “business as usual, with the usual pregame rituals.”
The Bantams unfortunately fell to the Panthers, for a final score of 6-2. “The game was tough, but I don’t think the score is indicative of how we played at all,” King delineates. She continues, “we are the only team other than Babson to score twice on Midd this year.” The Bantams also kept in close competition with the Panthers, having an unlucky penalty stroke that hit the crossbar. “We played really well, and it was a team effort.” Middlebury remains undefeated, sitting at 12-0 overall. King remains optimistic and concurs that, “At the end of the day, everyone was having fun, which is really important.”
The Bantams last pair of games are both away at Williams College and Amherst College. The Ephs are 4-1 in the conference and the Mammoths are currently ranked #10 overall. King speaks for her team on preparing for their last two games: “If we can play like we did against [Williams and Amherst] we’ll be in a really great spot, it’s do or die if we want to make playoffs.” The team’s next two performances will determine their seeding in the NESCAC tournament, and King has a good feeling about both games. “We’ve beat Williams and Amherst away before and they’re always good games.” She conveys the team’s high anticipation for their next game against Williams, “If we can flip the switch and keep up the energy into the game then we have it.”
Deviating from Saturday’s results, King is grateful for her teammates and happy with the team synergy. “This team has the closest bond I’ve felt since being here.” She concludes, “I’ve had an amazing three years, this is a really special team to graduate with.” The Bantams game at Williams will be streaming online at BantamSports. com, beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21. Tune in to cheer on your Bants on their journey to NESCAC’s!
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