Tigers Head East For Contests With Longwood, Richmond and VCU

Stockton, Calif. – The Pacific Field Hockey team looks to build on the momentum of its thrilling penalty strokes win over Robert Morris on October 2, as they head to Virginia for three contests. The Tigers will take on Longwood, Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth, October 6, 8, and 9, respectively.

Pacific is coming off a 3-2 victory over the Robert Morris Colonials at Brookside Field. Head coach Linda MacDonald thinks the overtime and penalty strokes helped her team saying, "they learned a lot, and kept their composure when faced with adversity. Most importantly it gave them a much needed confidence boost."

Pacific will look for its offense to be agresseive in the circle. Senior Amanda Spellman leads the Tiger offense with three goals, including the first score against Robert Morris. The Orange and Black will also turn to sophomore Melissa Maultsby and freshman Tarah Trotter for a spark. Maultsby leads the squad with 15 shots this season. 

Continuing to take good shots is a focus for the Tigers on this roadtrip, MacDonald added, "we must get shots off, which means we need to get control of the ball in front of the cage and execute."

Also, the Tigers will rely on junior goalkeeper Ashlee Schlesier. For the second time this year, she was named NorPac West Division Defensive Player of the Week. Schlesier recorded 13 saves in the victory over the Colonials, and turned away four of six penalty stroke attempts.  MacDonald talked about the importance of her keeper saying, "she has worked hard in practice, and it showed during the penalty strokes. It helps our team a lot when she is playing well."

Scouting Longwood-Oct. 6
Pacific will look to contain Sophomore Stacey de Grandhomme who has six goals in thirteen games leads the Lancers offense. She has recorded a team high 25 shots on goal. The Tigers can expect goalkeeper Kaye Goulding to be in the cage. The junior has 96 saves in twelve games for the Lacncers.

Scouting Richmond-Oct.8
The Tigers will look to score on the Spiders Anna Zarkoski who has 51 saves in over 500 minutes for Richmond. She has a solid goals-against average of 1.85 so it will be important for the Tigers to rip many shots at the keeper. Leading Richmond on offense is Katelin Peterson who has four goals and four assists in nine games this season.

Scouting Virginia Commonwealth-Oct.9
The Pacific defense will take on a Rams offense led by Kelsey Scherrer. The junior has five goals and two assists in 2011. The Tigers offense will look to attack goalkeeper Erin Jablonski who has allowed 18 goals in nine games this season.

Up Next:
After the weekend the Tigers will have only four regular season contests remaining, including a matchup at No. 7 Stanford on October 14. Their lone home game is the NorPac Conference finale against UC Davis on October 29, which will also be their annual Pink Game.