At Longwood, First Friday Back is an annual kickoff to the new school year following the first week of classes. Students gathered at Wheeler Mall and then marched together, as one united force, making their way to the Athletics Complex to cheer on the Lancers.
This year's G.A.M.E 9.0 (Greatest Athletic March Ever) featured the Longwood field hockey team against the Bucknell Bison in front of a crowd of 2,073 people. For head coach Iain Byers, dealing with the large crowd was a discussion point before the game.
“We talked a lot about the crowd and what effect it can have and how you can use the energy for good, and trying to avoid the nervousness," said Byers.
Senior goalkeeper Katie Wyman used her coach's advice on how to stay focused.
“Thank you for staying, because it really helped us along and we felt their energy and we played with the energy and that really helped us keep that ball out there,” said Wyman.
Wyman, who ended with a total of seven saves to keep the Lancers ahead, held high praise for her teammates after the game.
“My teammates, they did awesome. So it was them that did it all. I was just there when they needed me,” said Wyman.
“Katie did a great job in the back just really anchoring," Byers praised. "She came up with every save she needed and did a great job of that."
The Lancers and Bison jostled for position most of the first half until the ice was finally broken by senior forward Leonie Verstraete in the 26th minute to give the Lancers the 1-0 lead. The Bison then fired back to equalize as senior forward Nicole Rupnik tipped in a shot in as time expired in the half to tie the game at 1.
The Lancers scored the winning goal 13 minutes into the second half as junior forward Olivia Wawrzyniak sent a shot into the bottom right corner making the score 2-1.
“It felt pretty good, great way to lead the season and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” said Wawrzyniak.
All three goals in the contest came off of penalty corners.
Bucknell outshot the Lancers 14-11 in the contest, while the Lancers held the slight edge in penalty corners 7-6.
The Lancers are looking forward to their next match after Friday's signature win, as they host U-Mass Lowell at 4 p.m. on Aug. 30.
The Lancers and Bison line up to battle it out in the second half of the G.A.M.E. 9.0.