GAME DAY COVERAGE
Fri, March 19 at La Salle - -
Live Stats /
Video
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Lock Haven University field hockey team is set for a return to competition as the Bald Eagles prepare to start their 2020-21 season on Friday (March 19).
Lock Haven will waste no time jumping into Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) action as the Bald Eagles head to La Salle Friday for a 3 p.m. contest.
La Salle is 0-3 on the season after the Explorers opened their spring season on March 5. In the last meeting between Lock Haven and La Salle, way back on October 6, 2019, the Bald Eagles won, 1-0, on the road. Lock Haven standout
Tia Judy (East Prospect, Pa./Homeschooled) scored the game's only goal. LHU has won three straight games in the series.
Live coverage links for Friday's contest are available at www.GoLHU.com.
Despite a limited schedule, the Bald Eagles are excited to open their spring 2021 schedule after the fall 2020 season was cancelled.
Back in July (2020), the Atlantic 10 Conference announced the postponement of all scheduled fall contests in conference-sponsored sports and A-10 championships due to the continuing COVID-19 global pandemic. That announcement included field hockey, but part of the announcement also included the league's intentions to conduct a competitive schedule for fall sports during the 2021 spring semester.
This special 2020-21 season also gives LHU the opportunity to celebrate the 75
th anniversary of the program's first year of varsity field hockey back in 1945-46.
The program's first official varsity season was in 1945 and the program started with a victory on October 20, 1945. Since that first game in the fall of 1945, the Bald Eagles have claimed 69 winning seasons, 15 conference championships and seven national titles, among many other prestigious honors.
To date, Lock Haven is scheduled to play six games this spring, starting with Friday's match at La Salle. Five of the six scheduled contests are to be played vs. A-10 opponents and three of the scheduled games are set to be played at home on Charlotte Smith Field.
Following Friday's contest at La Salle, LHU will get a home game as the Bald Eagles are set to host perennial conference power Saint Joseph's on Sunday, March 28. Six of Lock Haven's 11 wins came at home in 2019. The Bald Eagles other two home games are scheduled for April 2 vs. Towson and April 17 vs. La Salle.
On February 9, the Atlantic 10 announced the spring 2021 preseason coaches' poll and Lock Haven was picked to finish fifth.
Saint Joseph's received six of eight first-place votes and was picked as the favorite among the coaches in the A-10. Richmond and Massachusetts each grabbed a first-place vote and fell at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. VCU was picked fourth, just ahead of Lock Haven. Davidson and La Salle locked up in a tie for the No. 6 spot and Saint Louis rounded out the preseason rankings. Back in 2019, Saint Joseph's was the A-10 regular season champion and the Hawks claimed the Atlantic 10 tournament title as well.
The 2019 season also proved to be a special one for Lock Haven as it ended with the Bald Eagles securing a postseason berth. LHU capped an all-around impressive 2019 season with an 11-8 overall record. The Bald Eagles went 11-7 during the regular season and finished at 6-2 in Atlantic 10 play. During the regular season, Lock Haven recorded conference wins over Davidson, Richmond, La Salle, Virginia Commonwealth, Saint Louis and Saint Francis.
The Bald Eagles finished the 2019 regular season on a roll, concluding the season with a four-game win streak. All four wins came by way of shutout-victories, as Lock Haven outscored its opponents 11-0 in the final four games. In all, LHU won seven of its final eight games during the regular season, which included A-10 wins over La Salle, Virginia Commonwealth, Saint Louis and Saint Francis.
The upset-minded Bald Eagles entered the 2019 Atlantic 10 Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The 2019 A-10 semifinal appearance marked Lock Haven's first A-10 tournament appearance since 2014 and fourth overall since joining the A-10 in 2010.
Hall of Fame head coach
Pat Rudy enters the spring 2021 season with 613 collegiate wins, including 367 at LHU, her alma mater.
Rudy's current roster has plenty of talent to help her add to that already impressive win total.
Following the 2019 season,
Jazmin Palma (Entre Rio Providence, Argentina/Colegio Sagrado Corazon de Jesus) racked up a number of individual honors after leading the team in points with 16. She earned All-Region honors after earning the 2019 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year award. She was one of two standout freshmen for LHU back in 2019.
Amy Stevens (Castle Creek, N.Y./Whitney Point) was named to the A-10's 2019 All-Rookie Team after a 14-point freshman-season.
Also returning to lead the way is the aforementioned Judy and the Bald Eagles' standout goalkeeper.
Defensively, LHU was solid in 2019 and the team finished with eight total shutouts. Those eight shutouts led the A-10 and those eight clean sheets ranked third in all of NCAA Division I field hockey behind only UConn and Michigan.
Goalkeeper
Joaquina Orlandini (Concordia, Argentina/San Antonio School) was an All-Conference selection in 2019 after an impressive season. Leading the defense from the backline, she started 18 of 19 games (played in 18) and made 58 saves. Orlandini was 10-8 overall with eight shutouts and she finished the season (1,134.57 minutes) with a 1.16 goals-against-average, and a .725 save percentage. To round it all out, she led the A-10 in shutouts and ranked second in the A-10 in GAA (top-15 NCAA DI).
Please note, currently, no spectators are permitted to attend home LHU sporting events this spring. Also, because of the ever-changing nature of COVID-19 and safety protocols - game/event dates, times, locations and/or opponents are subject to change at any time. Any, and all updates will be announced at GoLHU.com and on the department's official social media accounts.
