Strathmore keeping calm after dropping first points last weekend

Strathmore University remain calm despite dropping their first points in the 2022 Kenya Hockey Union, KHU Women's Premier League last weekend.

After a blistering run which saw them win seven straight matches, Strathmore met their match in multiple champions Kenyan Blazers, who forced them to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.

"It makes me happy that we managed to show resilience. It's one of those days that it doesn't click, we actually went down first, but we showed the knack to fight and come back. The fact is we dominated the game, but were not able to make the scores. But it is a good indicator for me in terms of resilience, mental strength and the desire to win, it's also good we didn't lose the match so we keep our unbeaten record," Strathmore coach Meshack Senge told Mozzart Sport.

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"This team is still young, we've got a few experienced players, but they are numbering less than three, most of them are people who have not had this experience, so for them to have done what they did, it shows a lot of resilience," added Meshack.

Strathmore's next encounter comes against a resurgent Lakers Hockey Club at City Park on Sunday. The Kisumu-based side had a bumper weekend, winning two of their fixtures against the weeping girls Amira Sailors and Sliders. Lakers beat Amira 2-0 before edging out Sliders 1-0 to record maximum points that took them to third on the log.

However, Senge says they're taking it one match at a time, and will prepare well for the weekend. "We will review what were their (Lakers) strengths and weaknesses and plan around it, and see if we can register a good outcome. Every game is a new beginning and not an end, so we will be looking for our first points."

In the first leg played at Simba Club, Kisumu last month Strathmore narrowly picked a 1-0 win.

Lakers Team Manager John Paul Otieno opines that the battle ahead will boil down to having better mental strength.

"We just want to work on psychological fitness, the two games need to get our players psychologically fit, because we have worked on the gaps we've been having and no player has injury."