Coach Puzo and the RedHawks strive for a deep postseason push this field hockey season

Last year, the Miami University RedHawks emerged victorious over the Kent State University Golden Flashes to capture a sixth consecutive MAC championship. Miami headed into the NCAA tournament with a 14-7 record and aspirations of pushing far into the postseason.

However, after defeating the University of California Golden Bears, the RedHawks fell to the Northwestern University Wildcats. It was the third year in a row that the RedHawks dominated their conference, but failed to push past the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s kind of become the new norm,” senior striker Katherine Groff said. “We totally celebrated last year’s success, and it was amazing, but now we’re itching for the next step”

With the 2024 field hockey season creeping up, the RedHawks are going in with the mindset of playing with their highest effort to make a deeper postseason push than previously seen.

For head coach Iñako Puzo, who is entering year 14 of coaching for Miami, the key to their success lies in the team’s chemistry.

“We work a lot off the field to be sure that we have a solid team culture,” Puzo said. “When you get that love for each other inside the team, that is reflected on the field and off.”

Throughout the offseason, building that team culture was a prominent goal for the RedHawks. With six first-year players incoming, the older players needed to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that everyone holds each other accountable.

Groff explains that this time of year, when everyone is getting back together after the offseason, is the ideal time for the team to show their togetherness.

“I think so far it makes it really fun for us,” Groff said. “We had our first practice all together, and it’s really fun to be able to play with people you haven’t played with in a couple months and see the new skills that people come with. It allows us to be competitive and push each other, and there’s no hard feelings once we’re done playing.”

Recruitment for field hockey was a primary focus after last season, as the RedHawks lost seven players to graduation and transfers. When looking at recruits, Puzo and the coaching staff search for players that line up with the values of the program and Miami overall.

The field hockey team embodies the Miami code, Love and Honor, to the highest extent. For Puzo, those words mean pushing yourself to your limits for the collective improvement of your peers.

“That’s the main two words that we have on our mind every time we talk about the Miami field hockey program. It’s Love and Honor,” Puzo said. “We talk about it a lot because it’s such an incredible word, but also very difficult to define. One of the best definitions we can get is when you’re willing to do whatever it takes for another person, [no] matter what.”

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When looking at Miami’s schedule, it becomes clear that the RedHawks will face some tough opponents, including five Big Ten schools, early in the season. After opening the season against the Bucknell University Bison, the RedHawks play their second game in Oxford against the Saint Francis University Red Flash before hitting the road.

In September, they face the No. 10 University of Iowa Hawkeyes, the Indiana University Hoosiers, the Princeton University Tigers and the No. 7 Rutgers University Scarlet Knights in the span of two weeks.

The RedHawks return to Oxford against their first MAC opponent, the James Madison University Dukes. They leave Ohio again to face two more MAC opponents: the Bellarmine University Knights and the Ball State University Falcons.

At the end of September, the RedHawks will visit Michigan to battle the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State University Spartans back-to-back. Upon returning to Oxford, they will play the Ohio University Bobcats.

Throughout October, Miami faces the remaining conference opponents, including the Appalachian State University Mountaineers, who ranked first in the conference last season with a record of 14-4 (6-1 in conference play).

Though the schedule features some of the highest ranked teams in the nation and tough competitors all around, the RedHawks are ready to use these games as preparation for the postseason.

“It goes a long way when the end of the season and postseason tournament come around, knowing and being able to look back at those experiences and draw from those games,” Groff said. “The caliber of teams that we [will] end up playing in those rounds are very similar to what we’ll be seeing during the season.”

Last year’s second round exit to Northwestern lit a fire for Miami. The season is here, and the RedHawks could not be more prepared. Fans can expect the same fiery competitiveness that they’ve grown to expect, but Puzo ensures that the team will compete to the highest level on the way to a deep postseason push.

“We’re going to compete,” Puzo said. “We’re going to battle, and we’re going to work every day to play a little bit better. [In] my time here as a coach, I have never promised a trophy, but we have brought so many of them.”

@thekethan04

babukc2@miamioh.edu