Protective eyewear not popular with field hockey players

The National Federation of High Schools, of which the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is a member, mandated protective eyewear for field hockey players starting with this season. But the mandate doesn't appear to be popular with the players it's designed to protect.

The players have a choice of two approved styles, a cage-like mask, much like a baseball catcher's mask but only covering the eyes, or something that looks like swimming goggles. Both types have their disadvantages, the players say.

Most of the complaints say the eyewear restricts their vision, especially when a player is looking down. Some players said that makes wearing them more dangerous than not wearing any protection.

"They block your vision," Wissahickon standout Lauren Becker said of the cage-style protection. "And the goggles get foggy if it rains."

The Sabia twins, Allie and Brooke, of Mount St. Joseph, agree.

"The goggles can get fogged up just from sweating," Brooke said. "Then you have to take time to wipe them."

"The face-mask [style] restricts your vision," Allie added, saying she expects to see more injuries instead of fewer. "People get too confident with the eyewear."

Showdown Tuesday. Mark down Tuesday as one of the big showdown days of the young field hockey season. That's when two-time defending Inter-Academic League champion Notre Dame visits Episcopal Academy, last year's runner-up.

The Churchwomen are off to a 4-0 start that surprised even veteran coach Gina Buggy.

"They're young but getting better," said Buggy, who is in her 26th season.

The Churchwomen do have leading scorer Alana Dumas, a junior, back from last season when they went 16-4. They are relying on goalie Giana Pileggi, who was a freshman last year when she served as the junior varsity backstop. Dumas leads the team with 10 goals.

"It's been exciting," said Dumas who wants to play Division I hockey. "Last year we lost to Lawrenceville early in the season. This year we beat them, 2-0. Hopefully, that's a good sign for us."

Kathleen Kneizys, Leslie McManus, Weezie Chakejian and Carly Cicotti have provided great senior leadership, according to Buggy.

"The young kids seem to go with them," the coach noted.

Cakejian is headed to Georgetown to play after graduation, while Kneizys plans to play for Lehigh.

Notre Dame is 4-1 so far this season. The one loss was to Villa Maria Academy, 4-2, in the opener for both teams.

Unfortunately for the Irish, they will be without last year's freshman sensation, Moira Putsch, against Episcopal. A 27-goal scorer last year, she suffered an ACL injury and is not expected back until at least the end of this month.

EA's Buggy doesn't see that crippling Notre Dame, however.

"We lost to them both times last season. Our games are always close," she said. "Now if we can just score some goals."

Phantoms flying. Phoenixville stretched its record to 7-0 on Saturday with a 7-3 win over Upper Merion, a streak that includes a 4-2 win Friday over Fox Chapel. Fox Chapel is usually one of the strongest teams in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League. The Phantoms also have a win over Pioneer Athletic Conference nemesis Upper Perkiomen.

"Jennifer McCrady, the Fox Chapel coach, played for my brother, Joe, at Great Valley. She called him and asked if we could get together for games if she brought her team east," said Phantoms coach John Tornetta. "This is probably our best start in five or six years. The girls really enjoyed the game against Fox Chapel."

Tornetta said part of his team's success could be from the fact that it also enjoys playing on Phoenixville's new artificial surface field.

"We've got some speed, and the field has really helped us," he said. Juniors Jess Dague, Shannon McErlean, Chandler DiFebbo and Allie Meszaros each scored a goal in the win over Fox Chapel.

"We've played on grass in the past so that when we got to districts we played on [artificial] turf and we were always a step behind," Tornetta said. "Playing on our new field has us spoiled."