Kent State Determines Football Team's Pregame Fireworks More Important Than Overtime Field Hockey Game

Saturday’s college field hockey game between Maine and Temple was called off in the middle of play after host school Kent State needed the field to set up pre-game fireworks for the football game next door, per the Bangor Daily News. While the teams were told of a potential scheduling conflict beforehand, the decision still showed how every college sport is at the mercy of whatever football needs.

The field hockey game will not count toward the two schools’ records, so at least no one will be screwed over statistically. But it’s nonetheless dumb that the game was called off after the first overtime; that was at around 10:45 a.m, according to Maine midfielder Riley Field. The Kennesaw State-Kent State football game didn’t begin until noon. That should’ve given Maine and Temple time to play the second 10-minute overtime and, if needed, a penalty shootout.

In a statement released by the Kent State field hockey team’s Twitter account a few hours after the game, the school said the decision to cancel was made with an eye to player and student safety:

The National Field Hockey Coaches Association also weighed in on the matter:

It is our understanding that while both programs were made aware of the 10:30 a.m. stoppage of play via a May 2019 email, Kent State University failed to communicate the steps that would be taken should the 10:30 a.m. hard stop be reached. The NFHCA Office has reviewed the game contract and cannot find any reference to the 10:30 a.m. hard stop nor can we find any information regarding what would happen if the game was not completed prior to reaching the “drop dead” time.

While it’s an unspoken truth that colleges care more about football than any other sport, and especially about any women’s sports, it’s not usually as clearly demonstrated as it was by Kent State.

[ Bangor Daily News]

H/t to Jay