Katie Reynolds hat trick last week against Keuka College led the Lakers to a 4-2 win, their third of their current four-game win streak after starting the season 0-2. Reynolds has scored six goals in six games so far this season which is already better than the four goals she scored all of last season. “Stats wise it was definitely the best [performance of my career],” Reynolds said.

Although last week’s game against Keuka College was the first time in her college career Katie has scored a hat trick, it was not her favorite moment as a field hockey player. “My best moment would be my first game as a Laker last year when I scored the winning goal in overtime,” Reynolds said.

Last year’s season opener against Houghton was Reynolds’ first game as a Laker after transferring from St. Thomas Aquinas College following her freshman year. “The school [St. Thomas Aquinas] was just small, and I was switching majors and Oswego is known for communications,” Reynolds said. “When I came up, I just loved the team and the program here, so I switched.” While St. Thomas Aquinas is a Div. II school, only around 2,000 students are enrolled at the college.

She knew she wanted to transfer, but did not know any of the players at Oswego State prior to coming, so she decided to reach out to the coaching staff to see what the program was like. “I’d reached out to the coach last year and she told me to call her once I had gotten my papers signed because St. Thomas was Div. II so I had to get a whole bunch of stuff signed,” Reynolds said.

Once Reynolds got her paperwork in order, she came to a recruitment night and met all the girls on the team. She knew at that point that she wanted to come to Oswego State. “I had a lot of fun, the girls were really nice, they told me about the program, it sounded fun, so that’s when I made up my mind [to come to SUNY Oswego],” Reynolds said. “I love my team. They were welcoming and they’re all like family to me.”

Reynolds appeared in all 15 games in her first year with Oswego State in 2016, starting in 10 of them. She scored four goals and three assists with 11 total points. Reynolds was also tied for the team lead in game-winning goals with Monica Harvey, scoring two game-winners over the course of the season.

First year head coach Heather Moore has already seen a lot of improvement in Reynolds’ play so far this season. “Since the beginning of this season, I’d say she’s improved and she’s had to play a bunch of different positions,” Moore said. “Trying to transition has been helpful, and this last game, she played mostly forward and so I think that’s where she’s going to be for a while.”

So far in this early part of the season, the Lakers have been trying to figure out everybody’s position and see where everyone is most comfortable. These past three games have shown how far they have come in finding everyone’s niche on the team. “We’re still trying to get everyone’s position down and keep switching, so once we get a feel for it, I think we’ll be better,” Reynolds said.

“We just have to keep playing hard with intensity all game and never give up.” Going forward in the season, Reynolds wants the goals she scores to keep helping the team. For the junior, it is more about helping the team win rather than scoring a lot of goals for herself.

That is why her favorite field hockey moment was not the hat trick, but the game where she scored the game-winning goal. “I want my goals to mean something, I don’t want to score a bunch of goals and get killed, so I want my goals to help the team get a winning season,” Reynolds said. Moore sees Reynolds as one of the leaders on the team, and her play contributes to the team’s success.

“She’s leading mostly by example and really generates a lot of forward momentum for us,” Moore said. Reynolds and the Lakers look to continue their four-game win streak with a home match against William Smith College, Tuesday 4:00 p.m. at Laker Turf Stadium.

Photo by Cole Parzych The Oswegonian