2003 Field Hockey Outlook: The Start of Something Great
September 3, 2003 | Field Hockey
BOSTON - There are five seniors on the 2003 Boston University field hockey team. For the four of them who were on the team in 2000, they would like to end their playing careers the same way they started them, with an America East championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. It was in 2000 that head coach Sally Starr and the Terriers won their second straight conference title and made the program’s first back-to-back appearances in the NCAAs.
For the six players who were members of that 2000 team, seniors Genna Clough, Lindsey Domers, Celeste Hubbard, and Whitney Peabody, and juniors Erin Burke-Webster and Jodie Gardner, the next two seasons didn’t quite live up to the same lofty standard set in their first year at B. U. After going 16-8 in 2000, the Terriers finished with a combined 19-21 record in 2001 and 2002.
“Last year, we played to our level of competition,” explained Starr. “It was a team that at times excelled on the field, but it was also a team that had some very bad losses.”
B. U. registered wins over top-20 teams Princeton, California, and Maine, and held the nation’s top team, Maryland, scoreless into overtime, but combined those impressive performances with damaging conference losses to Vermont, New Hampshire, and seventh-ranked Northeastern. Because of those losses, the Terriers narrowly missed a berth in the America East Championship for the first time ever.
Every season is a fresh start, however, and 2003 is no different. Starr, who enters her 23rd season at B. U., and assistant coaches Tracey Paul and Tiffany Snow return nine starters, and expectations are high as the Terriers attempt to make a return to the field hockey elite.
“Our expectations are very high for this team,” said Starr. “It’s a result of returning most of our starters and having non-starters who developed very well during the spring.”
Veteran leadership will be readily available on the field this season, as six players who started all 21 games last year will be back in the lineup this year.
“We have six players who have been in the program for four years,” said Starr. “There is a lot of maturity in the locker room and on the practice field, and there’s going to be a lot of maturity and experience on the game field as well.”
Overall depth has also improved, due to the addition of the four freshmen who redshirted last year. The spring season saw those players make solid strides improving their game and meshing with the veterans.
Last year’s freshmen who saw game action were part of one of the strongest B. U. classes in recent memory. Caitlyn Cassara, Natalie DiSabato, and Colleen McClay were each named to America East’s All-Rookie Team, with McClay jumping right into the starting lineup in the Terriers’ midfield. Much is expected from the entire class in 2003.
“They are really a team within a team,” said Starr of her eight-player recruiting class. “They taught the upperclassmen some things on the field in the spring. They are true hockey players”
Hubbard and senior Dalinda Banuelos both earned Northeast Region Second Team All-America honors as well as America East First Team All-Conference selections. They finished atop the B. U. scoring list last season. Hubbard tallied 11 goals and five assists for 27 points, while Banuelos had 10 goals and four assists for 24 points. Her 74 shots led the team. Domers, along with Hubbard, each led the team with three game-winning goals last year.
Junior Kara Rossi reached double-figures in scoring with four goals and two assists for 10 points, and Peabody, limited due to injury, contributed with two goals and three assists for seven points. Defensively, the Terriers were impressive. They limited opponents to just 28 goals, a 1.30 goals against average, and had five shutout victories. The 28 goals were the fewest allowed by B. U. in seven seasons.
The biggest loss from last year’s team is goalkeeper Susan Harrington, a 2002 Northeast Region All-American and three-time Second Team America East All-Conference performer. Harrington finished her stellar career third on the Terriers’ all-time wins list with 40. During her senior season, she posted career bests in save percentage (.808) and shutouts (4.5). Finding her replacement is chief among the coaching staff’s minds, but historically speaking, B. U. has always had excellent goalkeepers and has never had a problem making the transition from an experienced goalkeeper to a newcomer.
“Susan was an outstanding goalkeeper for us,” said Starr. “Four years ago, she followed [Noreen] Flanagan, who had played every minute of every game for four years. We asked ourselves ‘how are we going to replace that?’. Susan did.”
There are two keepers who will compete for the job of replacing Harrington this season. Junior Jodie Gardner and red-shirt freshman Erin Prediger may not have many combined minutes in goal, but Starr believes both are up to the task.
“They are both very talented and they both have the ability to fill some very big shoes,” said Starr.
Gardner’s career consists of only 56 minutes of action in five appearances over the past two seasons. She saved the only shot she faced in that time. The coaching staff expects one of the pair to be the sole starter by the time start of the regular season rolls around in early September.
One of the Terriers’ strengths is their athletic ability, which offers them the flexibility to play multiple positions.
“I don’t want to commit to certain players at certain positions,” explained Starr. “We do have a lot of players who play a number of positions and play them well. I think we’ll be athletic and fast across the board.
“I don’t feel like we’ll have a weakness, but we also won’t have players who will overwhelm anybody else,” continued Starr. “We are going to have a solid nucleus of strong hockey players.” Consistency, on the other hand, is a commodity that was in short supply last year, but the coaching staff has worked hard to remedy that problem.
“One of the things we are going to focus on while we are in Europe [see sidebar] is whether we are playing consistently or playing to the level of our competition,” said Paul. “We have matured in the spring, not only in recognizing when we play down to our opponents, but also with our mental toughness as far as having a commanding presence on the field at all times. How consistently we play will be a great measure of our growth as a team this year.”
Given the team’s disappointing finish last year, the Terriers have set numerous team goals in an effort to regain their stride of three seasons ago. Despite finishing 11-10 and not making their conference tournament, the Terriers sported an RPI that placed them 19th in the country, due in large part to playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
“Some programs view that as a good year,” said Starr. “We are viewing it as a poor year. We feel that top 20 is not acceptable. Top 10 or top six and legitimately competing for the national championship is where we should be.
“A big emphasis during the spring was getting out of the rut of accepting mediocrity and losing,” continued Starr. “The success of our trip to Europe won’t be measured in wins and losses because of the caliber of our competition, which may be higher that anything we’ll face in the United States. We need to see the players compete and fight and play hard for the entire game.
“We are striving to be the America East champions and compete successfully in the NCAA Tournament, whatever that brings, and to play at OUR level,” said Starr.
Expectations are high this year. Motivation can be found all over the field. The five seniors will have plenty of say in how they end their careers at B. U. Bookend conference titles and NCAA Tournament trips will be their primary motivation. They came into a winning program three years ago, and would like to graduate in a winning program.
“The sense of urgency is situated all over the field this year,” concluded Paul. “And that can propel a team to greatness.”
