The Bloomsburg University field hockey team had soared to a 3-0 record in the start of the 2018 season. The Huskies have also earned a number five overall ranking in the latest Penn Monto/NFCHA Division II Coaches Poll.
Head Coach Nikki Hartranft enters her ninth season with Bloomsburg as hopes for a PSAC and national championship are brought back into conversation. Hartranft led the Huskies to a 10-9 overall record in 2017, as they fell in the quarterfinals of the PSAC tournament to West Chester.
The Huskies are led by junior midfielder Tesa Hoffman, who has already recorded four goals and two assists in the start of the 2018 season. Hoffman was just named PSAC Player of the Week after her first collegiate hat trick in the 4-0 win over Chestnut Hill on Sept. 15.
Also leading the Huskies is senior forward Erica Krebs. Krebs has played in all three of her previous years for BU as she finds herself as an important piece of this hopeful Bloomsburg roster.
Bloomsburg started their season against Lindenwood University, where they fought in a long battle all the way up into shootouts. The Huskies found goals from Hoffman and senior forward Erica Krebs in regulation time as they took a 2-2 battle into overtime and shootout periods. During the shootouts, Krebs, freshman forward Foto Tsioles and senior midfielder Tali Wehner all scored goals in the best of five shootout format to give Bloomsburg the victory.
The Huskies then faced Bellarmine University on Sept. 3. This match up showed nothing but Bloomsburg goals as the Huskies blanked Bellarmine and walked away with a 5-0 victory. Krebs netted two goals, as junior forward Ali McKay, sophomore midfielder Alyssa Broadt and freshman forward Madilyn McKay each saw themselves on the score sheet with goals for BU.
Bloomsburg stayed hot in their return to Pennsylvania where they saw Hoffman record her first collegiate hat trick, as the Huskies defeated Seton Hill by a score of 4-0. The shutout win marked it the Huskies second in a row, as sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Barnard earned a collegiate first with her second consecutive shutout in goal.
The Huskies then welcomed PSAC foe Kutztown University to Steph Pettit Stadium for their first home game of the 2018 season on September 19th.
The Huskies fell down early and were down by a score of 2-0 all the way up until the final six minutes of regulation. Sophomore Cheyenne Ott netted her first goal of the season, cutting the Kutztown lead in half to 2-1.
The Huskies failed to make anything happen in the final minutes as Kutztown held on to upset Bloomsburg 2-1.
The Huskies are back in action Sept. 25 at Millersville.
