If I ruled college field hockey I would create a cut-off time with 15 minutes left in the game. What
I mean by this is that if there were 15 minutes or less left in regulation time, the game would be over if there were a weather issue that moved the rest of game to another date.
For example, baseball considers a full game to be five innings. If a game has to end because of weather or another issue after five innings the game is over and whoever is winning at the time gets the victory.
College soccer has a similar rule where if there is severe weather and the game is at or past the seventy-minute mark the game is over, whether the score is tied or not.
Field hockey is one of the few sports where there is no cut-off point.
This is an issue especially at the college level where student athletes have many other responsibilities to take care of.
If a team has to go on the road to play the final minutes of a game then that is wasted time.
The Keene State field hockey team took on Castleton State College on their home turf back on Sept. 2.
Keene State was leading the game with a score of 4 to 2 when lightning struck in the area.
The game was called with three minutes and six seconds left in regulation.
If there was a cutoff point, the game would have been over and Keene State would have gotten the victory.
The rest of the game was scheduled for Oct. 17, and Castleton State will have to travel to Keene to play the last three minutes of the game.
Both Keene State and Castleton State will have to play three games in four days, which is out of the ordinary for any college season.
The Owls will take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Oct. 15 — lucky for them, they get to stay at home when Castleton State comes up for the final three minutes two days later, then Keene State will travel to take on Eastern Connecticut State University the following day.
Castleton State doesn’t get off the hook so easily.
They will travel almost two-and-a-half hours to take on Amherst College on Oct. 15.
They will then get an easier trip to Keene with the ride being about an hour, but they will have to go almost four hours to face off against Thomas College in Maine for an 11:00 a.m. start the next day.
College field hockey should implement a cut off time so that they can avoid situations like what will happen later this month between Keene State and Castleton State.
Field hockey lags behind and should put a similar rule in place like baseball and soccer so that the games are over instead of having to play the final few minutes and jamming multiple games close to each other creating a hectic schedule for student athletes.
If I ruled college field hockey, there would be a cut off time with fifteen minutes left in the game and it would end.
I would implement this rule so that teams would not have to play the final few minutes on another date.
Mike Miezejeski can be contacted at mmiezejeski@keene-equinox.com
