EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — The East Stroudsburg University Field Hockey team: your 2022 NCAA Division II national champions!
"It was very, very fulfilling," East Stroudsburg Field Hockey Coach Sandy Miller said. "I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The excitement, the enthusiasm, the lack of sleep now, the hard hours we put in, definitely, everything was well-worth it."
Miller has been at ESU for 38 years. After winning it all in 2015, this is the Warriors’ second national title, but it wasn’t easy. They played PSAC rival Shippensburg to a scoreless tie for 59 minutes, but in the final minute, Nicole Krozser scored the only goal of game.
”My first word to myself was 'Hallelujah!'" Miller admitted. "Thank you and let’s hold it for 36 seconds.”
”I knew it was coming to me," Krozser said. "I was trying to get ready for it and I was able to one-time it in and it was just crazy. I didn’t even know it was going in until I saw everyone around me cheering.”
They’re going to have to update the sign here on the scoreboard at Whitenight Field for the now-two-time national champions and the Warriors got it done this year with a lot of local talent. Five players on this roster are from our viewing area.
"It’s such a journey," said ESU senior Olivia Breen, who played high school field hockey at Pocono Mountain East. "I’m from here. It’s my home and just bringing it here, where I’ve always lived, it’s just so crazy. I can’t even comprehend it.”
”To play with so many people around from the area and bring it back home, just means so much because we’re just so supported here," added ESU junior Amy Supey, who played high school field hockey at Lake-Lehman.
Support that was ready to welcome the champs back home.
”On the bus, we thought it’s just going to be like two people," Supey said. "It’s midnight.”
”The outpour of love when we came out was crazy, too," Krozser added. "It was like midnight and we had a whole crowd and even today, I’m walking through campus and people who I don’t even know are saying ‘congratulations, great goal.’ So, just to bring it home is such a dream-come-true.”