Bermuda’s victory over NCAA Division II champions Shippensburg has “lit a fire” underneath the team, according to captain Jasmine Patterson — and the Central American and Caribbean Games qualifiers in November cannot come soon enough.

Goals from Alex Francis and Maya Palacio gave the national side a 2-0 win over the Raiders, who are preparing to defend their collegiate national championship in the United States.

Forward Patterson and defender LaKae Tavares, Bermuda’s most experienced players on a team featuring plenty of youth, explained just how much Saturday’s victory at the National Sports Centre meant to them.

“I would say it’s one of the top-five results in Bermuda’s history,” an emotional Tavares explained.

“Even when we walked on the field in that last quarter, I could feel myself getting choked up because it’s so important.”

Patterson said: “We’ve never been ahead in a game [of that magnitude] before and came back and scored again. It is emotional for us because it’s new. We’ve never had the intensity up front, [but] we’ve been solid in the back. It’s overwhelming.”

Tavares is a former All-Conference selection at Western Ontario University in Canada and now combines motherhood with playing field hockey.

“It comes down to being here and giving it my all,” she said. “I obviously train outside of here and I am just so passionate about it. I believe in this team and when I leave home, and when I leave my baby girl, my husband and my family, I’m doing this for a purpose.

“We’re all here and we all want to achieve the same thing. These guys keep me going. It’s because of them.

“I want [my daughter] to know that if you put your mind to something and you work hard at something, then you can achieve something. And that’s an example I want to set for her.”

She also wants to send the message that field hockey can be a great gateway into higher education for Bermudian girls.

“It’s so important for anyone that loves hockey who intends to go away to school, to definitely look into it and pursue it,” she said.

“It’s a whole different level of play that you get from league hockey in Bermuda.”

Tavares is an all-action defender with a penchant for getting to the ball before the attacker has even thought about receiving it.

“I don’t know how to play any other way,” she said. “If you don’t go for that ball, if you don’t take that dive, make that tackle, how else do you get there? How else do you achieve what you want to achieve? It’s all or nothing.”

Tavares said the veterans in the group “set an example” to the youngsters in Saturday’s victory.

“I think the experienced players set an example, which sometimes doesn’t happen, but we led today,” she said after the game. “I think the babies that are here now have players to look up to. It makes such a big difference and helps with team cohesion.”

Patterson agreed.

“The experienced players bring a level of intensity, because we both have experience of playing overseas in these really, really hard tournaments against top players,” she said. “What’s different about this team is that the juniors are playing up to that. They’re feeding off of our intensity and are becoming enveloped in it and that is something we have not seen in previous years.”

After a summer in which they played mostly Divison III teams, Bermuda proved they were up to challenge Shippensburg presented.

“We maintained control of the game,” Tavares said. “They are more skilful than us, they are faster than us, they are fitter than us, [but] we came out strong and we gave a little bit more, hence the result.”

Patterson explained how Bermuda have gone back to basics in their quest to play winning hockey.

“We had nothing to lose,” she said. “We are starting to accept our faults and accept our strengths. We are identifying them and starting to use them and that is something we have not done before. We’ve always tried to be the top skilled players, and that’s never worked in the past. We are using the basic skills we have and building on them as a team.”

Playing with emotion has been a positive experience for Bermuda and they are sure to carry that on when they head to Kingston, Jamaica in November for the CAC qualifiers, where they will face the host nation, Guatemala, Guyana, Panama and Puerto Rico.

“What all of us have learnt is to play with our hearts,” Patterson said. “We want to put Bermuda hockey on the map. It’s done so much for me on an emotional level and on a physical level. It’s a part of us, and to see us all grow up together and win against a solid side like that, it’s more than just a game for us, it’s a big part of our lives.

“This mini-tournament has definitely lit a fire underneath us. We’re really anxious about it. We know what we can do. We know that we can win games and it’s all about keeping that momentum going and we want to come back with a win, no matter what.”