Esports
By Luke Sisco
The Esports team is coming off the spring semester with three championship titles and looks to ride the winning momentum into the fall season.
The Esports team has received a new head coach this season. Spencer Weed takes on this position after spending the previous year as the team’s social media and broadcast manager. “I’m excited to take on the role of head coach, after being able to shadow our last coach for quite some time. I feel confident in my ability to keep the program winning,” Weed said.
The games Esports will participate in this semester include Overwatch, Super Smash Bros, Valorant, League of Legends, Rocket League, Apex Legends, Fortnite and Call of Duty. Each team looks forward to a competitive season with many games against schools from across the country.
All the teams share one gaming space on campus called the Esports Arena. In order to manage which teams have access to the arena at certain times, Weed has devised a complex practice schedule to keep order amongst the many teams going in and out of the space.
The first game of the season for Esports is played by Overwatch on Sept. 11 against a college that will be selected on the day of the match. All games for Esports are streamed on Twitch on the “HoodBlazers” account.
Volleyball
By Luke Sisco
Women’s volleyball head coach Katie Barnett is excited to be back for another intense season of hard work with her team.
Coach Barnett, now in her second year at the helm, has been tirelessly working with the team to refine their skills and strategies. “Excited is the first word that comes to mind when looking at the season ahead,” Barnett said.
The team lost three seniors in the spring semester but has gained eight first-years. “With a great group of returning students, and a great new incoming class, we have a great opportunity to be competitive,” Barnett said.
A typical practice for the team starts with a high note: high fives, getting the energy up, and just being loud. The team is also known to get hyped by listening to Harry Styles and Ross Lynch’s music. After warmups, the team gets into drills and works on skills, ending the practice with some scrimmaging.
With the team winning one out of their first four games, they are looking to secure many more victories as the season progresses. Barnett will lead the team through another fierce season, with high energy and a competitive attitude.
Men’s Soccer Season Preview
By Amrit Brown
The Hood College men’s soccer team, under a new interim coach, began its season 0-3 with losses to Neumann, Goucher and Eastern Mennonite.
The Blazers squad, which finished 3-13-2 last year, is returning its top two goal scorers. The Blazers will also be under new leadership in the form of Interim Head Coach James Dempsey.
Both Dempsey and Assistant Coach Xavier Djiki are optimistic about the upcoming season despite tying for last in the coach’s preseason poll. “I think a minimum team goal is to finish with a record of .500 or above,” Dempsey said. He added that a maximum team goal would be to qualify for the MAC playoffs.
Dempsey believes that the team has a well-established culture that needs to be maintained. He added that he expects his seniors to set a tone for the team with the work rate on the field and the effort put towards academics.
Djiki also said the team is looking to attack this year and not just rely on a couple of guys (only five players recorded more than two points last year). “I think we will get some points from a good variety of people,” he added.
The team has added 13 freshmen this year who, according to Djiki, have the opportunity to make an impact immediately. He added that they will have to grow quickly.
The squad also bonded over the summer on its trip to Costa Rica, according to Djiki. Eight current players went on the trip and had a chance to play three scrimmages as well as watch the top club team in Costa Rica play.
Track and Field
By Chris Nalley
Track and field continues to grow under the leadership of Coach Michael Petro, who is entering his third year as the head coach.
During the 2022-2023 season, the team competed in 30 events between cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field, with fourth place coming as their best finish in all of these events.
“The biggest difference between my first year and now is that in my first year we were taking about 18 kids to track meets. This year, we are going into our fall track season with 42 on our roster,” Petro said. He said he believes they are making significant strides in the right direction, getting the program to where it needs to be as opposed to where it was.
Petro hit the recruiting trail over the summer and brought in a new transfer thrower to help fill the void left by a former player. Key returners include Jamel Mins, who is the fastest short sprinter in the conference and Chris Sappe, a four-time all-conference athlete who has broken quite a few school records in his time at Hood. Returning on the women’s side is Aylene Noy, who earned all-conference status as a freshman in cross country.
Hood opened the season on Friday, Sept. 1 at Shippensburg University and finished 11 out of 12 teams.
Women’s Soccer Preview
By Amrit Brown
The Hood College Women’s Soccer team opened its season on Sept. 1 with a 4-2 win on the road against Wilson College.
The Blazers finished with a 6-7-5 record last year and earned a spot in the MAC playoffs. This year’s preseason coaches’ poll projects the squad to finish fourth in the conference.
Head Coach Molly Kovarik has high expectations for this upperclassmen-heavy team that features nine juniors and seven seniors. “For me, everything has kind of come full circle. This group was first years when I started,” Kovarik said.
Kovarik said she wants to make it back to the conference playoffs and get to the point where they are competing for a conference title. “I want to push them because I want them to have the best seasons that they can,” she added.
Kovarik highlighted the importance of having both a positive mindset and a growth mindset for the team this year. She added that each game and each step is part of a slow process that will allow the team to create a winning mindset.
The team has four new freshmen and one transfer student this year, who Kovarik said will bring both new styles of play and different skill sets to the team. Kovarik’s goal is for the freshmen to develop into players who are comfortable getting into the game right away and working with the rest of the team to come together as a group and be successful.
Kovarik added that it is up to her to adjust to how players perform best and create lineups that play to the players’ strengths. “We have to remember that with new personnel comes different experiences and different styles,” she said.
Field Hockey
By Chris Nalley
Carley Shannon, head coach of the Hood College field hockey team, hopes for continued success on the field going into her fourth year as coach.
Since coming to Hood College after six years at Ball State University in Indiana, Shannon has helped the Blazers take big steps in the right direction, leading them to 12 wins over the past two seasons. Hood had seven wins between 2015 and 2019 and lost the 2020 season to COVID-19.
Shannon cites the athletes buying into the program’s vision, working hard and wanting to get better as a few of the reasons for the team’s success the past two years. “It allows us to hit the ground running,” she said.
The team graduated four seniors last year and has brought in some first-year athletes who are helping fill the roles left behind. The team’s lone senior, Lauren Neebe, is one of the key players for the team on defense as well as for overall leadership.
The team opened its season Saturday, Sept. 2, with 2-1 loss in overtime against Randolph Macon College.
Some of the big games for the team this year include Eastern University, Widener University and Albright College.
Shannon and the team are poised for their best year yet after a lot of previous success and momentum to build off from the last few years.
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