Caroline Perry
Managing Executive Editor
Sophomore Nina Bruno just scored her fourth hat trick of the year in field hockey against Framingham State.
After receiving Little East Rookie of the Year, getting picked for the All-Little East First Team and getting LEC Rookie of the Week twice, Bruno said she more than pleased with her level of play so far this season. “It was definitely a great achievement getting my fourth hat trick of the season, I was really stoked and can’t wait to see how the rest of the season goes,” Bruno said. Bruno added that a goal that she made for herself this season was to improve her skills from last year, getting more goals and more assists than she did as a first-year. “I’m really working hard to get there and hopefully I can achieve this goal of mine,” Bruno said.
The sophomore said that her team was very supportive of her accomplishment. “The field hockey team here at Keene State is filled with 24 of the kindest and most supporting group of girls I have ever met. Every girl has supported one another during their good and bad times and I couldn’t be thankful for that. My teammates are so supportive of my accomplishments and always push me to be a better player on and off the field,” Bruno said.
On top of that, her teammates support has pushed her to do even better, Bruno said. “I think my personal success is really contributing to the team’s overall success, but again, I wouldn’t be where I am now as a player without those girls. They make me the best player that I can be and I hope they can say the same,” Bruno said.
Head Coach Amy Watson said that she thinks Bruno is doing very well this season. “It is a great accomplishment to score a hat trick in one game so to have done it in four [games] this season is a great accomplishment,” Watson said. Coach Watson added that Nina is only a sophomore and that she was the team’s leading scorer last season, was the second leading scorer in the conference last year and was named conference Rookie of the Year. “I think she shows a lot of promise and has the potential to improve more and more every year. She is a player other teams key in on to stop, so she must continue to work hard every day. I think she has it in her,” Watson said.
As far as inspiring her team, Watson said she thinks anytime the team has a scoring frenzy it psyches the team up. The positive energy directly transfers over to motivational play said Watson. “I think it is important we work hard to highlight our players when they do something well, I think the positive reinforcement keeps people motivated to perform well,” Watson said.
Senior captain Mia Brickley said that Bruno is really stepping up this year as a player and leader.
“We all see her doing well so we continue to push each other and encourage everyone to work hard and play well. We feed off of the energy of others. Tt is awesome that Nina got her fourth hat trick, tt is a huge accomplishment and she keeps working hard day after day,” Brickley said.
The senior added that it’s very important to have players like Bruno because strong players and leaders can be any age and any position. “We have people on the team who lead in different ways, whether it be physical play, communication, positive encouragement. Every team needs multiple leaders and we are lucky to have that,” Brickley said.
Caroline Perry can be contacted at
cperry@kscequinox.com
