Season Preview: Field Hockey Set to Tackle Challenges in 2015

8/28/2015 1:15:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – The 2015 Dartmouth field hockey season is just a week away as the Big Green open the campaign at home against UMass Lowell on Friday, Sept. 4 at 3 p.m.

As is the case every fall, the team features several new faces with other familiar names and personalities gone to graduation. However, a veteran group of returning players will be joined by a talented incoming Class of 2019 that should give the coaching staff reason to be optimistic for strong season this fall.

BREAKDOWN

Seniors	Juniors	Sophomores	Freshmen
#12 Jessica Barfield #5 Eliza Becker #4 Clare Detrick-Yee #8 Rebecca Hu (5th Year) #20 Brooke Van Valkenburg	#30 Paige Duffy #22 Joanne Nazareth #18 Jenna Schwenk #9 Heather Zezzo	#10 Julia Donald #17 Laura Donald #6 Anna Ewasechko #19 Morgan Philie #23 Maggie Sherin #24 Sarah Tabeek	#11 Amrit Ahluwalia #2 Gemma Bautista #7 Evie Bird #1 Rachel Inman #37 Hailey Valerio #13 Jessica Valvano

CAPTAINS
For the second year in a row, Rebecca Hu '15 will serve as one of the team's captains after being granted a fifth year of eligibility following an injury last fall. Joining Hu in a leadership role will be senior Eliza Becker '16. The two have developed a chemistry over the last decade as they played three seasons together at The Lawrenceville School prior to the last three years in Hanover.

COACHING STAFF
Head coach Amy Fowler is back for her 16th season leading the Big Green. In the final victory of 2014, Fowler became the program's all-time winningest coach as she won her 127th game on the Big Green's sideline, passing Marry Corrigan's 126 victories from 1975-92 that was the previous standard. Back for her fourth season as an assistant is Pattie Gillern, who will now be joined by Maddy Carpenter in her first as an assistant on Fowler's staff. Carpenter is a 2015 Northwestern graduate, where she helped lead the Wildcats to a BIG TEN Tournament title in her final season as the team's goalkeeper, earning postseason MVP honors in the process.

NEW FACES
Six members of the Class of 2019 are set to make their collegiate debuts this year as Amrit Ahluwalia, Gemma Bautista, Evie Bird, Rachel Inman, Hailey Valerio and Jessica Valvano make up the freshman class. Maryland (Valvano, Bird) and Pennsylvania (Ahluwalia, Valerio) each have two representatives, while Virginia (Inman) has one as does Australia (Bautista).

SCHEDULE
The 2015 slate features 17 regular season games, including nine at Chase AstroTurf Field in Hanover. Six of Dartmouth's nine home games will come in the first month of the season, giving the Big Green a solid base to open the year. Games against Maine and Columbia in October as well as the finale against Cornell on Nov. 7 are also on tap in Hanover this season. After three straight home contests to start the season, a Sunday, Sept. 13 game at UMass is the first of eight road matches in 2015.

2014 REVIEWED
The 2014 season finished with a 5-12 overall record, but a 3-4 mark in the Ivy League, placing the Big Green in a tie with Penn for fifth in the conference standings. Ali Savage '15 was named to the NFHCA All-Northeast Region First Team for the third year in a row after she led Dartmouth in 2014 in goals (10) and points (27), while second in assists (9). Savage also became the first player in program history to be named to the Ivy League's First Team three times unanimously, while just the fifth Big Green player to earn first-team honors three times in a career.

TOP RETURNERS
Sophomore Julia Donald is the team's top returning scorer from a season ago when she scored four times and finished with 10 points as a rookie. Brooke Van Valkenburg scored three goals and had nine points, but was a constant in the offensive end of the field with 49 shot attempts (second only to Savage's 57).

IN GOAL
Junior goalkeeper Paige Duffy is the lone veteran goalkeeper on the roster this season. After backing up Ellen Meyer '15 the last two seasons, Duffy has seen just 29:07 of action, but has looked sharp during preseason scrimmages and exhibition contests. Joining Duffy this season as one of the team's two keepers is freshman Hailey Valerio — a three-time team MVP as a member of the Garnet Valley High School varsity team. Expectations are that these two will push one another for time in the cage this fall.

AMY FOWLER'S KEYS TO SUCCESS IN 2015
1. Health
“It will be important for us to stay healthy, minimize injuries and continue to improve our game fitness as our preseason wraps up. Our kids have worked hard this spring and summer, so we have high hopes that we will be able to navigate any small set-backs which may pop up.”

2. A Balanced Attack
“Our ability to score from the field and set pieces has improved and we are also more prepared to spread our scoring across a number of players. This will be critical in our attacking success. We return an excellent group of experienced attackers and midfielders, along with veteran backs who will also push the pace to be up in the attacking end.”

3. An Efficient and Proactive Team Defense
“We need to tighten up our defense all over the field, by pressuring our opponents early and often. We must all take responsibility for our end and collective roles when we do not have the ball. Our transitional play from attack to defense is also going to play an integral part in our team success.”