Our second Spring Break report comes from women’s lacrosse co-captain Angela Napoletano in Hilton Head.

After enduring a 13-hour-long bus ride, filled with eating, sleeping and some more eating, we finally arrived at the Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head, South Carolina, at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Although the rain put a damper on unloading the bus, everyone on the team was very excited to be here and ran to their villas to pick their rooms. The team was split into three villas of about nine people each. Each villa was required to prepare a meal one night for everyone on the team. 

Waking up early on Sunday morning was not as bad as everyone had expected it to be due to the anticipation of playing in the warm 70-degree weather. The fields of Hilton Head are definitely not the surface we are used to playing on. Barker Field, with its grass, dirt and mud terrain, made for an interesting adjustment to prepare for our game on Tuesday, but our team was up for the challenge. Needless to say, after a long two-hour practice in the heat, we were ready for a home-cooked meal.

My villa was picked to cook for everyone the first night, so when we went shopping at the famous Piggly Wiggly on Sunday after practice, the employees and residents of Hilton Head were a bit overwhelmed by the influx of our team.

The picture does not even show all of the compartments under the bus that contained the food we bought, but going shopping allows us to have all the food we want for the week.  For dinner, my villa chose to make baked ziti with garlic bread and salad along with a birthday cake for the newly 21 year old Alexandra Franck.

After being in Hilton Head last year for Spring Break, we knew all of the good spots we had to go back to visit. Besides our Bieber bus, our only method of transportation around the island was rented bikes. Being that all of us are between the ages of 18 and 22, one would think that we know how to ride a bike. However, that was not the case for sophomore Veronica Maccia. Unfortunately, she did not make it through our first bike ride on the island in one piece after falling off and scraping up her knees, hands and toes. She has the evidence to prove it with multiple scrapes and bruises.

The Salty Dog was a favorite among our team last year and the restaurant and shops were at the top of the list to go back to, where everyone either purchased a sweatshirt, long sleeve, hat or tank with the Salty Dog logo on it.

Although the Salty Dog was enjoyed by everyone, we knew the next day we had to get focused in order to win the game we came down here to play. We knew going into the game that it was going to be good competition against regional rivals Eastern University. The beginning seemed grim as we got off to a slow start, allowing Eastern to score in the first 30seconds of the game. At halftime we were up 8-7, but we knew we needed to make a lot of changes to win this game. We came out in the second half holding Eastern to three goals while we stepped up and rattled off five straight goals to solidify the win. After a game with multiple fouls and rough play we were proud to come out with the win. Knowing that we came down to Hilton Head on a 13-hour bus ride to play this one game gave us incentive to play without regrets and put everything out on the field.

The celebration of our win came to a sudden halt when we discovered that the “Muhlen-plague” had followed us to South Carolina. Unfortunately seven of us were unable to practice and be outside in the beautiful weather with the rest of our team. As I sit here writing this blog with Kaitlyn McCaffrey, the rest of our team is out enjoying a hibachi dinner, which has nothing on our Gatorade and saltine cracker diet.

This image of the lighthouse in Harbor Town will be forever embedded in our minds, especially on our long bus ride home on Friday. While we are sad to leave the beautiful Hilton Head, we need to focus on the rest of our season. The stomach bug won’t keep us down for long because when we come back to Allentown, we have our home opener Wednesday against Lebanon Valley, and our first conference game against F&M Saturday. Even though we had great experiences here we are excited to return back to Muhlenberg to continue our success as a team. HEE HAA HOO HAA, GO BERG!

It started out as just a few words uttered in jest.

With the only goalie on last year’s Muhlenberg women’s lacrosse team a senior, the Mules knew they would need to find someone to fill the void in the cage this spring.

So when then-sophomore Tiffany Kreider heard the news from some of her friends on the team, she volunteered her duties.

Well, kind of.

“It was always kind of a joke,” she said. “They said they needed a goalie, and I said,
‘Well I’ll do it.’ But I never really thought it would actually happen. Then one day I went out and took some shots, and I’ve been hooked.”

Kreider, who played on the field hockey team her first two years at Muhlenberg, had just a small understanding of lacrosse as a senior at Mifflinburg High School in central Pennsylvania.

The Wildcats did not get a team until 2009, when, ironically, current Muhlenberg assistant coach Cindy Wilson helped form a team while she was a senior at nearby Susquehanna University.

But Kreider stuck to field hockey and never tried her hand at lacrosse. That is until her friends on the team said they were in need of a goalie.

Flash forward 10 months, and there was Kreider taking her place between the pipes for yesterday’s season opener at Widener.

And while she said she had no idea what to expect, she was immediately thrust into a tough spot.

Facing a free-position shot less than 10 minutes in, she got enough of her stick on the ball to send it flying harmlessly away for the first save of her career.

That one save was enough to boost her confidence, and from there she soared.

Kreider stopped nine of the Pride’s 12 shots on goal to help the Mules pick up a 15-3 win. She turned away three shots from point-blank range and two more on fastbreak opportunities.

“I was really nervous, but this wasn’t just about one person,” Kreider said. “It’s a team game, and my teammates did a great job of keeping them away from the goal. All I have to do is make sure I’m in front of the ball, and with the way the rest of the defense played, that was easy.”

To anyone unfamiliar with the situation, she would have looked like a natural who has been playing the game her entire life.

But her teammates were not surprised in the least. They’ve seen her aggressiveness and tenacity from the first day of practice and think she has all the makings of a rock-solid keeper. And, more importantly, the perfect fit for the Mules.

“It’s incredible how quickly she’s picked it up,” said senior Angela Napoletano. “She’s been impressive since the first day of practice. She has no fear, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.”