 Welcome to Go Mustang Sports. I'm Dave McHugh talking field hockey today, and I'm joined by assistant coach Jamie Goldkind First and foremost welcome to our little video essays here Second year on the squad is an assistant coach I at this point you've probably adjusted well and things are a little bit easier for you How have you enjoyed the experience of being an assistant? Yeah, it's been great It's been a huge learning experience going from the player to the coach and coming up with drills and A lot goes into planning a practice and preparing for a game So huge learning experience, but I loved every second of it so far And I'm sure you know what you like for drills what you didn't like for drills I have a gut feeling knowing knowing coaches even the ones you don't like still kind of reappear. Yeah, you know It's funny. I'll say get on the line and I feel bad doing it But yeah, but I'm like I know will make them a better athlete And you're working you were a midfielder forward when you played and you're kind of working with that group now Yeah, so I focus and help out with attack and you know offensive corners and Movement on the field and work on that with them. You got a good gut good crew to work with yeah Led by Caitlyn Dempsey, of course What's it like to work with talent like Caitlyn or others at this team? Yeah, it's awesome. You know when they when they players have speed and great ball control You know you can really motivate them to do whatever and have good skills and great vision So it's exciting when they score you feel like proud and I help them and you know motivated them Not every player wants to become a coach. What was the driving idea behind trying this out? That I was always my plan. I think I was a player that you know, I was a captain Kind of always had those leadership qualities and just always Thought that I taught the blood that taught the game better than personally played So it was just always I knew I wanted to coach teach Team is eight and six on the year at this point few weeks left a lot of conference games. We'll talk about those in a minute Little bit of a rough spot in the last few weeks But because the competition has been tough and come out of it so far at 500 still with a winning record The team's got to be pretty confident about that. Yeah Obviously what no matter what getting the win definitely boost our confidence So just keep on focusing on improving is our number one goal I was gonna say big win just the other night double overtime in conference action Which was even more key but a nice win and double overtime just looking at the reactions of the win You could see both elation and you could also see a bit of a sense of relief. Yes Oh gosh when Dempsey scored that goal. I just was like, thank God It was a long game, but and it was a hard battle fought but I definitely we started out the game strong and you know put two goals up right away and It definitely was a hard well earned win. So you get up early to nothing all on penalty shots interestingly enough Yeah, and then you have to hold on and they're chipping at you now It's two one now it's two two as an assistant or as the coaching staff What are you trying to tell the team to keep them motivated and not let this kind of Disappear on you and get that winning overtime. Yeah, I guess we just say, you know, you put two goals up, you know, you can score Play with heart talent and it's try to tell them it's a conference game win So we do need this, you know really motivate them But that we could see fire and like determination in their eyes So we were pretty happy with the win and knew they could do it speaking of Speaking of ball control as you mentioned earlier Caitlyn Dempsey and winning goal nice little spin move right there Inside the arc and then a nice little lift to get that goal pass And we always you know, we try to say you want to move the goal and Change up things and especially I think other teams know to look for her So the lift shot was a nice touch and they left just a little bit too open Yeah, there were enough room to move exactly and she she did it So we're proud of her for sure. Absolutely another game that was big at least for you I know for the team too because you want to keep the winning ways Unfortunately, it was a two-one loss, but to your alma mater York out of Pennsylvania What were the emotions for you standing on the other sideline? Yeah, it's almost a bittersweet feeling You know, I want the program that I came from to succeed I still knew some of the girls on the team, but you know, I'm a coach now for Stevenson So I wanted that one of the other green. Yeah, yeah the other green So I wanted that win and it was a hard game though We it definitely was a battle York did play great and we you know We got a goal at the very last couple minutes. So made it interesting. Yeah, but it definitely was a hard fight on both teams So we weren't you know That out of their league right now. So it was good game. It's been good those three overtime games You played have been at home. They've been wins you stay at home this Thursday when you take on Wilson and non-conference action This is kind of one of those Tricky games. You got to be focused on conference play, but you want to keep the winning ways going What's the message to the team? Yeah Well, we definitely we want this win so to build to build Momentum and confidence going into Abernia and so we just want to play hard We're still looking to play, you know that full game Fast intensity competitive You know, we start off a game strong and we come back a little slow and then pick it up So again, I think our main goal is play Wilson, you know, the full field full time hard intense Really rack up the score would be great so we can roll right into Alvernia with ready to go Of course Alvernia conference game. It's already big because it's a conference game You guys would like to improve on last year's 10 wins get more than that at the same time Make the conference tournament make a dent in that tournament as well So the win the game against over is big and in all those senses But Lebanon Valley with the win over messiah has also changed the landscape of the conference a little bit Do you feel pressure? Do you feel optimistic? Hey, this is a great opportunity for us to really kind of put our foot in the ground Yeah, you know, I think no matter what we don't we don't want to depend on the other teams Yeah, the LVCA upset was was huge, but that's still no guarantee for us So just again focusing on our game and what we need to do to be Alvernia as big few games left as we mentioned We mentioned the two this week Wilson and Alvernia So what's it? What I mean? This is a tough part of the season where the teams it's been grind at this point You've been tested you've had these overtime games. How do you keep the team focused? How do you keep them sharp? Especially with a game on Thursday turn around travel on Saturday. Yeah, you know, it comes down to how we play in practice We plan part of the practice intense, you know, definitely incorporate some sprints and Long runs that can continue building their mental toughness and then we want to make sure we have fun You know, we throw in a few fun games and get the girls like excited to play field hockey and remember like The love of the game is always important. I've seen the get on the line. I've also seen some of the few fun games Yeah, they definitely have fun during practice. Well, thanks for joining me. I certainly appreciate it. Good luck this week It's Wilson and Alvernia again Wilson here at Mustang Stadium 7 o'clock start time You can watch it at the stadium or of course on SUTV Of course, they'll be on the road against Alvernia We'll catch up with the field hockey team on the other side of the weekend to find out how they're shaping up for their last Push of the regular season for Jamie Goldkind. I'm Dave McHugh for Go Mustang Sports