Morrisville’s Chascity Bonczkiewicz (7) keeps the ball away from Oneonta’s Samantha Merritt during the Mustangs’ Oct. 16 game against the visiting Red Dragons. MSC won two of its last four games to finish at 4-14.

                                    Photo by Jim Trask, ‘08

The women’s field hockey team has lost their last eight matches, giving them an overall record of 4-14. The ladies failed to win any games against SUNYAC opponents, coming in at 0-6 in conference play.

The team’s second victory came September 22 against visiting St. Vincent College, when the Mustangs shutout their opponents, 1-0. Although the team has struggled to score goals this season, many of their losing efforts have been very close, like their Oct. 6  2-1 overtime heartbreaker at SUNY Brockport.

“We’re taking or lumps along the way,” said head coach Adair Milmoe, in her second year with the team. Milmoe said the ladies had “a very difficult schedule,” citing much of their opposition is from larger schools with more developed programs.

Milmoe said it is great practice for her team to play against these larger schools–like Skidmore College, which thumped Morrisville 11-0 earlier this year–but she would like to see the ladies work together more and improve their record.

Lauren Bordonaro, a freshman from Pendleton, NY and one of the team’s leading scorers, said earlier this year that she hoped the team would finish the season with a win percentage over .500 and be one of the top three teams in SUNYAC. However, the likes of other SUNYAC schools – like Brockport, New Paltz and Cortland–prevented this from happening.

Milmoe said she is very closely committed to the team and that their goal is to eventually be one of the best teams in SUNYAC, but that may take some time. “We’re a young team playing against a lot of veteran clubs,” she said, “but we’ll only get stronger."

Milmoe’s roster was made up entirely of freshmen and sophomores, but many teams they play against have upperclassmen, some who have been with the same team for four solid years. “This is a great opportunity to grow the program here,” said Milmoe, who thinks that as more bachelor programs arrive at Morrisville, more long-term players may arrive as well.

The team defeated Vassar College on the road Oct. 24, 3-2, and after losing an away game to Houghton College 6-2 a couple days later, defeated Well College Oct. 30 by a 2-0 score to end the season at 4-14.