Reported in the ROTUNDA, December 10, 1975
On November 26, 1975, the Longwood College Varsity Hockey Team traveled to Madison College (now JMU) to compete for the National Title. The team did not originally qualify to be involved in the tournament but after Oklahoma University declined their bid, the National Executive Board extended an invitation to Longwood to participate. Longwood played five games and finished the tournament as the sixth best college team in the nation. Longwood along with fifteen other teams played in the USFHA-AIAW tournament but 143 teams declared that they would participate in the college team division.
Longwood’s first game was on Thursday Nov. 27 at 8:30 A.M. against San Jose State University. Longwood was the underdog against eight seated San Jose but this meant nothing to Longwood Ladies as they came through and beat San Jose by a score of 3-0. Carol Filo scored once in the first half and Terry Voit scored two in the second half. The Longwood offence and defense played well; this win was a big boost for the team.
In advancing to the quarterfinals Longwood was matched against first seated West Chester State of Pennsylvania. The Longwood team played well but the West Chester team outplayed L.C. and took the game by a score of 4-1. Longwood fought till the final whistle but could only come up, with one goal, which was scored by senior right link Terri Sawyer. Longwood was only one of two teams, which were able to score on the West Chester goalie. In losing the game the Longwood team was dropped to the quarterfinals of the consolation round; thus Longwood would play Wooster College from Ohio that same day at 2:30 P.M.
Wooster College played a very “aggressive” first half. Terri Sawyer and Terry Voit each scored one and in the second half Carol Filo put one in for Longwood. The team’s offense and defense obviously became tired during the second half and Wooster was able to score twice before the Longwood’s defense tightened up. The play became tense during the second half but once again Longwood came out on top by a score of 3-2.
On Saturday November 29 Longwood faced Bernidiji College in the semifinal round of the consolation bracket. The Longwood offense did not play their game in the first half and at half time the score was 0-0. During the second half Carol Filo put one in for Longwood but Bernidiji scored on the Longwood defense not two minutes later. The game ended in a 1-1 tie but Longwood was awarded the game on penetration time, which Longwood won by only 1:44:4. This victory put Longwood in the final game of the consolation round to compete against Lock Haven State College for fifth place.
The game was played at 1:00 Saturday afternoon on the Madison AstroTurf a first for all of the Longwood players. The field was definitely an advantage for Lock Haven as they practiced daily on their home Astroturf. Ronnie Lawson, a member of the U.S. Touring Team who also plays for Lock Haven, was the team’s playmaker and it wasn’t until the second half that Longwood was able to contain her. Lock Haven took the lead early in the first half and remained ahead throughout the game. Terri Sawyer scored once for Longwood late in the second half.
Ms. Hodges commented that she was very proud of the accomplishments of the team. “I think we played exceptionally well in the tournament”. She felt that the teams we met at nationals were much stronger than any of the teams met during the regular season and we were able to face this competition with confidence and skill. “The team’s play improved steadily throughout the progress of the season and reached its peak of performance in the post season tournaments. I think each player could be cited as having played outstanding in one or more tournament games”, commented Ms. Hodges. The coach cited the play of Carol Filo; Cathy Lowe, Terri Sawyer and Kathy Arthur as outstanding during the tournament but she felt most of all “It was a team effort”.
In overall season records Terry Voit was high scorer with 23 goals. Jane Grier cleared 91 shots attempted on goal for Longwood. Team statistics included Longwood scoring 41 goals on opponents and having only 10 goals scored on the defense.
In closing the 1975 season the members of the Longwood Hockey Teams and coaches would like to thank all faculty, students and staff for their constant support and continuous efforts.
