By: Josh Silverman
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The start of the 2017 season was a frustrating one for the Quinnipiac Field Hockey team. However, things changed on Friday during it’s contest with Yale.
Throughout the first five games, the Bobcats continued to put shots on goal but not points on the scoreboard. Last weekend, Quinnipiac put 16 shots on net in two games but only came away with one goal.
Yet the game against Yale was different, and head coach Becca Main credits that to moving some pieces around.
“I think we had to refocus this week,” Main said. “We talked about being transformational because this is the part of the season when you’re trying to figure out who you are and who fits where. Today we did a lot of moving the puzzle around and it was really a brilliant outcome. I couldn’t be any happier.”
After officially being named captain earlier in the day, senior midfielder Dayna Barlow stepped up when the Bobcats needed her most. She scored two goals in the first half to put Quinnipiac up 3-0, and never looked back.
Often times when teams are in trouble they turn towards the captains, and that’s what Quinnipiac did. Having someone like Barlow is invaluable to Main.
“For me, for Dayna, I’m able to turn to her and say ‘this is what I need from you and I need to have it now. She turns and goes ‘ok’ and then she does it,” Main said. “She really led the charge this week at practice. We’re coming back off being 0-4 and how do you get a team to step up? She really was instrumental in that. She walked the walk today. She doesn’t just talk the talk she walked the walk.
For Barlow, having the faith of her coach gives her confidence to go out and perform like she did against Yale.
“It means a lot that Becca Main has that confidence in me and that she could name me as a captain,” Barlow said. “I just feel very honored with that and very respectful towards her.”
After finally notching its first in the new stadium, Quinnipiac can now prepare for games without the monkey on its back. And it was Barlow who was instrumental in letting the proverbial monkey loose.
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