A young McMaster field hockey team begins the season and looks to grow new players on the roster

On Sept. 16, the McMaster University women’s field hockey team began their season. Their first game of their campaign saw them face up against the McGill University Martlets, in which the team secured a dominant 3-1 win

The team’s second game of the season took place on Sept. 17, as the Marauders took on the York University Lions and lost out with a score of 0-4. 

Both games had major takeaways for the Marauders to reflect on as they embark on their ten-game regular season. The most important lesson that the young team has learned so far is that they just need time to settle in. 

“I think we have very good individual skill, but [because] we have such a young team, we haven’t ever played together before. . .I think the biggest thing is playing together and running through our systems. Most of our practices are walkthroughs because we all come from different teams and backgrounds,” said first-year Darcie Brohman. 

On their 22 person roster, there are 10 first-year and six second-year players. With a majority of the team’s athletes just entering their rookie or sophomore season, it is no surprise that it may take time for the team to reach their full potential. 

“We’re a very young team. We haven’t been a U Sports team for very long and we have a lot of rookies. So, age-wise we have a lot of younger players, but I think we haven’t played a lot together because of that. . .Every time we play we get more and more and we become more competitive and better than we were the last time,” said Brohman. 

Every time we play we get more and more and we become more competitive and better than we were the last time.

Darcie Brohman, forward and midfielder, McMaster women's field hockey team

Despite their inexperience it seems as though the first-year players, specifically Brohman, have the team in good hands. Her performance against McGill, her university game where she scored and gave two assists, also earned her Athlete of the Week on Sept. 18, as . 

Brohman attributed her success to the entire Marauders team and believes that it is only up from here for the squad; however, contributing to every goal in their first win is quite a feat. 

"I think it's hard to get Athlete of the Week because it's never really one person. People have been congratulating me and I’m very thankful for that, but there's the whole team behind me,” said Brohman. 

I think it's hard to get Athlete of the Week because it's never really one person. People have been congratulating me and I’m very thankful for that, but there's the whole team behind me

Darcie Brohman, forward and midfielder, McMaster women's field hockey team
Photos by Kyle West

Things have been going very well for the McMaster women’s basketball team and they have no plans to slow down. Currently in first place in the Ontario University Athletics West with a 12-2 record, and the worst arguably behind them, another trip to the University Sports national finals looks on the horizon. But this time, senior guard Hilary Hanaka and the Marauders aim to leave with a medal.

“Once you get that taste on court playing against the best teams in Canada, it only makes you hungrier for more,” said Hanaka. “You know that you're there and you can compete, but I think just being on that playing field for the first time there was a lot of nerves going into it. I think we didn't play quite to our full potential.”

Although the Marauders faced teams like the McGill University Martlets, who they have seen before in exhibition play, the games against teams like the University of Calgary Dinos, who play a much grittier style than Hanaka and the Marauders were used to, caught them off guard. But Hanaka believes that having been there before, in addition to having such a tough OUA season this year and playing against highly skilled Ontario teams, will help the Mac women get to that top level to compete at Nationals.

“Knowing that we got there is a huge step in our team success,” Hanaka said. “Of course, our ultimate goal was getting to Nationals and getting a medal would have been a bonus, but I think for a young team with lots of changes, that was a huge stepping stone for us. So right now we are just making sure we have an opportunity to get back there to prove that we deserve to be there and that we can do better than we did last year.”

So far ensuring that OUA playoff spot has been going well for the Marauders. Even with the loss of key veterans like Lexie Spadafora, Jelena Mamic and Adrienne Peters, Mac does not appear to have missed a beat. One of the reasons is the addition of Christina Buttenham, a Hamilton native and transfer from the University of Iowa, where she played from 2014 to 2017.

“It's always tough to lose senior players. With their experience on and off the court, it’s obviously a huge loss for us,” said Hanaka. “But I think gaining players like Christina, who's been in high-level basketball for years, is something that is huge. She stepped right in and already fills a leadership role on the team.”

Not only does Buttenham have National Collegiate Athletic Association experience, but she also played for the Canadian Junior National team in 2014, and was named an Academic All-Big Ten selection as a junior and as a sophomore while at Iowa.

Buttenham has already been such a great addition for the team helping defensively, averaging 5.4 rebounds a game and having the fourth highest points per game average on the team, with 9.9. The help has been able to give Hanaka the opportunity to have big games like she did this past weekend against the University of Guelph Gryphons.

With a game-high of 28 points, shooting an astounding 62.5 per cent from the field and 72.7 per cent from the three-point line, Hanaka led the team to defeat the Gryphons 109-80 on the road.

🏀 FINAL: Hilary Hanaka drops 28 on the road, as @MacWbball blows past the Gryphons 109-80 to improve to 11-2 on the season.@mcmasteru returns home to Burridge Gym tomorrow! #GoMacGo pic.twitter.com/pEXrId3YnT

— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) January 12, 2019

“Getting back into things after the holiday break is never easy, so just going back into these last two games I've been on myself to make sure I've been coming out with that fire,” said Hanaka. “Of course, once you start hitting those first couples of shots and my teammates are cheering for me on the bench and making great passes, it just makes it so much fun to play with them and to do well.”

Guelph was one of two wins this past weekend, the second came against the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks, who they defeated 59-43 to earn their sixth straight win. Having already played their most personal game this season against the reigning OUA champs the Carleton University Ravens, defeating them 64-52 in November, the worst is over and focusing on staying on top is the Marauders’ top priority.

“Just knowing that our end goal is to get that national championship helps us take every game as it comes and to not overthink them,” said Hanaka. “Another focus has been trying to remembering to take no game for granted, because there has been a lot of upsets in the OUA this year and we don't want one of those to be us.”

With the Marauders’ next two games coming against the Lakehead University Thunderwolves this weekend, they will be making sure they go into every practice seriously so that they are focused come game time, regardless of who is wearing the opposite jersey. This is the mindset the Marauders plan to have until the last buzzer goes off for the season.

 

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