Shenandoah University’s field hockey team ended its season this fall by setting a new program record for wins as well as earning its first-ever ODAC championship.
The Hornets beat Washington & Lee, 2-0, in November, to take the championship. The win was a record-setting 13th of the season for the program. It also marked Shenandoah athletics’ second-ever ODAC title. Baseball earned the first in 2015.
The victory took the team to the NCAA championships, where it was knocked out of play by the University of Rochester, which advanced to the tournament’s Sweet Sixteen round. “I am very proud of my team,” Shenandoah coach Ashley Smeltzer-Kraft said after the game. “Rochester is such an experienced team – they made it to the Elite 8 last season and they knew what to expect today. It was all new to us. This was a great experience.”
The Hornets grabbed two of the four major ODAC awards as Smeltzer-Kraft was selected as Coach of the Year and freshman Taylor Hayes earned Rookie of the Year accolades.
For Smeltzer-Kraft, it is the second time in four seasons that she has been named as the league’s Coach of the Year. She earned her initial honor in 2013 after leading SU to 10 wins in her first season at the helm of the program.
Hayes becomes the third player in program history to be named Rookie of the Year. Junior Jenna Rampale was picked in 2014 while Alexandra Darrow was named in 2012.
In six seasons of ODAC field hockey, the program has now earned three Coach of the Year accolades, had three Rookies of the Year and one player each named Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Of the individual honorees, junior Elizabeth Pardo was selected to the first team, Hayes and sophomore Kayla Alderman to the second team and sophomore Morgan Payne to the third team.
All four women were also previously named to the ODAC All-Tournament team.
In addition, Smeltzer-Kraft was named as the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Coach of the Year for college division field hockey.
Hayes and was named to the VaSID All-State first team at midfield. Pardo, Alderman and Payne were named second team All-State. Hayes and Pardo were named as midfielders, Alderman at forward and Payne as a defender. See the complete VaSID hockey honors listing here.