PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore bowling squad took some pretty big steps on Friday (Oct. 22) at the Colonial Lanes Classic in Harahan, Louisiana. The National Tenpin Coaches Association No. 20 Hawks were competing on the lanes for the first time in 19 months and in the team's first event under new head coach Roger Petrin.

The first victory of the 2021-22 bowling season came in the fifth match of day as The Shore topped NTCA No. 18 Lincoln Memorial 1,016-941. While the 1-4 record on the day wasn't exactly what the team was hoping for, a late day change of tactic and the first win in more than a year were more than enough for the team to focus on heading into Day 2.

The early part of the day was a slog as Eastern Shore would face off with four ranked opponents, falling to No. 9 Louisiana Tech, No. 10 Stephen F. Austin, No. 16 Tulane and No. 6 Sam Houston State.

"Welcome back to college bowling," Petrin said. "Here are some of the toughest teams in the country. I think winning that last match is going to be a good push. Once we got settled and once we saw a clear picture of what the lanes were giving us, everything looked a lot better.

"We did a lot of grinding at the start of the day, but we turned it around. I think we are going to see a different team tomorrow."

The opening match with Louisiana Tech was a down start as the team fell 1,003-887, but they rebounded a bit in the second match, outscoring the Ladyjacks in three games, but falling 1,000-935.

Next up was host Tulane and a 970-911 loss, but that brought a turning point for the day as the Hawks took a new approach midway through the match.

"We had a game plan that we stuck with through three matches and halfway through the third match we decided to abandon it," Petrin said. "I'm really proud of the team for adjusting. We were the furthest left team in the building. The teams that were scoring were 10-15 boards right of us and we abandoned the plan we came in with and reset ourselves. We did that and we started off slow, but we were able to finish pretty big toward the end of the day. That gives us a better idea of what we are looking for early on tomorrow and hopefully we can make some moves."

As they worked through the different positioning, The Shore lost to the Bearkats 1,001-919. Then the day's final match brought three games over 200 and a 1,016-941 win against Lincoln Memorial.

"What was great about today was that there was never a dull point in their communication and there was never a feeling like we were mentally out of it. I think the team did a really good job of communicating the whole day and making sure that everybody was mentally available," Petrin said. "I don't think the result is what they expected, but I think it gives them a good baseline to build off of and I think they are excited for the fact that they see potential. They see where they can be."

The Hawks (1-4) face five Traditional matches on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

After a day full of emotions, Petrin said he thought the team was in a good place mentally and looking forward to a more normal Day 2.
"I spoke to our younger girls and they had feelings of pressure and stress and anxiousness, which I expected from the two sophomores" Petrin said. "And really the girls who have been through it before haven't thrown shots together in almost two years, so they probably had a little bit of that feeling going too"