Aug. 31, 2004
IOWA CITY –
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This Week The University of Iowa field hockey team will continue the 2004 season this weekend when it heads to the Temple Invitational Tournament in Philadelphia, PA. The Hawkeyes will play a rematch with the North Carolina Tarheels Saturday at 12:30 p.m., then take on either Temple or American on Sunday at a time to be determined. Looking Back The Hawkeyes had a rough opening weekend at the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, falling to Wake Forest 3-2 and North Carolina 5-0. Game one against Wake Forest was a tight contest that had Iowa clinging to a second half lead before succumbing to the Demon Deacons. Freshman 0 gave Iowa a 1-0 first half lead at the 28:19 mark. Eleven minutes into the second half, Wake Forest tied the game on a penalty corner. Four minutes later, Lauren Stiver gave Iowa a 2-1 lead by converting a penalty stroke. The lead wouldn’t last, as the Demon Deacons scored twice in the final 15 minutes to steal the win. In game two, the Hawkeyes were steam rolled by the potent Tarheel attack. Karen Mann and Kelsey Keeran each had a pair of goals as North Carolina out-shot the Hawkeyes 32-18. NFHCA Poll The Hawkeyes finished last season ranked 16th by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. The first poll of the 2004 season will be released on September 7, 2004. The latest polls during the 2004 season can be viewed at the NFHCA Website, www.nfhca.org. On North Carolina The North Carolina Tarheels are currently 2-0 on the year. They returned all 11 starters from last season, where they went 16-6. Rachel Dawson, sister of Iowa’s Sarah Dawson, led UNC in scoring last year with 19 goals. Karen Mann leads the 2004 team in goals with four. Kelsey Keeran has three. The Tarheels lead the all-time series with Iowa 14-2. They are coached by Karen Shelton, who is in her 24th year. On Temple The Temple Owls are 2-0 on the season, defeating Lehigh and Syracuse last weekend. The Owls leading scorer is Lindsay Holman, who has five points on a goal and three assists. Katie Stevenson leads the team with four assists. Temple’s defensive backbone is all-American goalkeeper Erin Conroy. Iowa leads the all-time series with Temple 5-2-1. The Owls are coached by Lauren Fuchs, who is in her 12th year at the helm. On American The American Eagles are 1-1 on the season. Last week, they shut down Albany, 4-0, then were shutout by Connecticut 3-0 in their second game. The Eagles leading scorer is Camila Infante, who has two goals. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series with American, 1-0. Their only meeting was a 4-2 Iowa win in the first round of the Maryland Tournament on September 21, 1996. They are coached by Steve Jennings, who is in his fifth season at the helm. Don’t I Know You? The Hawkeyes will see a familiar face on the sidelines this weekend if they end up playing American. Eagles assistant coach Sarah Thorn was a four-year starter for the Hawkeyes from 1996-99, where she was a three-time all-Big Ten pick and a 1999 all-America selection. Thorn was a captain on the last Iowa team to reach the Final Four (1999). First Times a Charm Freshman back Kadi Sickel had a great debut for the Hawkeyes last weekend, scoring a goal on the first shot of her career. The last Hawkeye to score a goal on her first-career shot was Sarah Dawson, who did it on August 25, 2001 against Saint Louis. Injury Report Iowa will be without the services of starting sophomore back Heather Schnepf, who tore her ACL during spring practice. Her return date is unknown, although it is possible she will play this season. Schnepf emerged as a solid contributor during a great freshman year, leading the team with five defensive saves. Australian Import Freshman Kat Vella is just the third international player to play for the Hawkeyes. The last was Lesley Irvine, who wore the Black and Gold in 1999 after coming here from England to attend graduate school. Junior Debbie Birrell grew up in Zimbabwe before moving to Kentucky in 2000. The Only Brick in the Wall All-American goalkeeper Barb Weinberg will anchor the Iowa defense this year, and she better be in shape, because she won’t be getting a rest for the entire season. Weinberg is the only goalkeeper on the Iowa roster. Leading the Attack Senior forward Sarah Dawson will be looked at to lead the offensive attack for the Hawkeyes this season, as she is the team’s top returning scorer. The Berlin, NJ, native recorded 11 points on four goals and three assists on her way to second team all-Big Ten laurels last year. Shooting Gallery After the first weekend, senior Margot McMahon leads the team with nine shots. McMahon, a forward/midfielder, served as Iowa’s primary shooter on the offensive penalty corner unit. Freshman midfielder Kat Vella is second with four. 2004 Captains The Hawkeye tri-captains this season are seniors Margot McMahon, Lauren Stiver and Barb Weinberg. New Faces The Hawkeyes will welcome aboard a very talented class of five freshmen. Caroline Blaum, Whitney Raffo, Katie Rhodes, Kadi Sickel and Kat Vella all join the team after stellar prep careers. Blaum, from Wilkes-Barre, PA, was a second team NFHCA High School All-American and a first team regional all-American. Raffo, from Chatham, NJ, was a two-time first team all-conference, all-county and all-south Jersey selection, as well as the conference MVP as a senior. Rhodes, a defender/midfielder from Zionsville, PA, was a 2003 first team all-area pick, and helped her Emmaus High School team to the 2001 Pennsylvania High School Championship. Sickel, from Plaistow, NH, was a first team NFHCA High School All-American and the New Hampshire Player of the Year as a senior. Vella, a midfielder/forward from Sydney, Australia, was the captain and top goal scorer for her club team in the Sydney Women’s League. Family Ties Hawkeye ties always seem to run deep. This season, two seniors are the younger sisters of former Iowa all-Americans. Tammy Leister is the younger sister of 2002 all-American Tiffany Leister, while Sarah Dawson is the younger sister of 2000 all-American Natalie Dawson. Hawkeye Ties When the Hawkeyes face a Big Ten foe, more than likely they will be facing a coach with University of Iowa roots. Four of the seven head coaches in the Big Ten either played or was an assistant at Iowa before taking her respective job. Michigan State’s Michelle Madison (1982-89), Indiana’s Amy Robertson (89-92) and our own Tracey Griesbaum (92-99) were all assistants with the Hawkeyes before being named to their head jobs. Michigan head coach Marcia Pankratz played for Iowa from 1982-85. The Head Coach Tracey Griesbaum returns to the helm of the Hawkeye field hockey program for her fifth year. She has done a good job rebuilding the Iowa program, recording a 45-29 record. Before taking the head coaching job at Iowa, she was with United States Field Hockey. Griesbaum not only served as a full-time assistant, but was the head coach for the United States Under-21 Team. She led the Under-21 team to a second-place finish at the Pan American Junior Championships and a spot in the 2001 Junior World Cup. Her work was good enough to earn her the 2000 United States Field Hockey Coach of the Year award. Before taking the job with USA Field Hockey, Griesbaum was an assistant coach at Iowa for eight years. The Assistants Former Hawkeye Lisa Cellucci and Carla Tagliente will return as the assistant coaches this season. Cellucci was a four-year starter in the cage for Iowa. From 1995-98, Cellucci was a three-time All-American, four-time Regional All-American and a four-time All-Big Ten selection. After graduation, Cellucci was an assistant coach at James Madison, where she helped the Dukes to a 15-7 record. Tagliente was a four-time all-America selection for Maryland from 1997-2000, earning first team laurels her final three years. She led the Terps to three ACC Titles and the 1999 NCAA Championship. She was also a two-time Broderick Award finalist and was a member of the U.S. National team from 1997-2003.