2008 Woodie Awards
Golden opportunity
Field hockey prepares to defend NCAA title in first round playoff contest against Kutztown Golden Bears
Joe Arleth
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: sports
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The Bloomsburg Field Hockey team can be considered a lot of things.
They are successful, as is evident by the teams now 29th winning season under coach Jan Hutchinson. They are dominant, which is clear when you look at their 42-4 record over the past two seasons. They are certainly talented, which is proven by their seven players named to the All-PSAC team including athlete of the year Jaime Vanartsdalen and rookie of the year Brieann Wolfe.
But two things the Husky Field Hockey team will never be mistaken for is over-confident or intimidated.
This Saturday night at 7 p.m., Bloomsburg will host Kutztown University in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. The Huskies have certainly had the Golden Bears' number this year, defeating them all four times by a score 13-4.
If this trend of success continues and Bloomsburg downs their opponent Saturday night, Indiana (PA) looms in the second round of the tournament. To say that this match-up is slightly less favorable for the Huskies would be an understatement
The Huskies are a stunning 0-3 against Indiana this season, including an overtime loss in the PSAC Championships.
Still, the Huskies are saying all the right things heading into this crucial month on November. Hutchinson is not allowing her players to overlook a frisky Kutztown team. At the same time, Bloomsburg is making it known that they do not fear another match up with the pesty Indiana squad.
Vanartsdalen expressed the teams' feelings saying, "IUP has definitely caused us some trouble this year, but its because we haven't brought our "A game" to them yet. It is hard knowing that they have beaten us three times and they still haven't seen us at our best."
This is especially true for Vanartsdalen, who has been uncharacteristically shut out by Indiana University this season. Despite scoring 32 goals on her way to a record-breaking season, she has been unable to find the back of the net against Bloomsburgs' stubborn rival.
First things first though is Kutztown, a team that Vanartsdalen and the rest of her teammates have had no trouble scoring against. The series record between these two teams can be deceiving though, as Kutztown fields a very strong team and in their last game against Bloomsburg took the game down to the wire in a 2-1 loss.
"Although the [past] scores don't make it seem like this is an even match-up, I think Kutztown is a good team with a great record and some good players" said Vanartsdalen before adding that if the Huskies play the type of game they are capable of, no one can beat them.
Despite this attitude and their success last season, the Huskies enter this weekend with something to prove. If they take care of business Saturday night in front of their home crowd, the girls will get another shot to show Indiana that the Huskies are truly the top dog in field hockey.
It is rare for a defending champ coming off another strong season to have a chip on their shoulder, but after losing a hat-trick of games to IUP and having the PSAC title slip away, Vanartsdalen and the Huskies are making their playoff intentions clear.
""I'd rather have a great year and win another national title"
The journey beings Saturday
They are successful, as is evident by the teams now 29th winning season under coach Jan Hutchinson. They are dominant, which is clear when you look at their 42-4 record over the past two seasons. They are certainly talented, which is proven by their seven players named to the All-PSAC team including athlete of the year Jaime Vanartsdalen and rookie of the year Brieann Wolfe.
But two things the Husky Field Hockey team will never be mistaken for is over-confident or intimidated.
This Saturday night at 7 p.m., Bloomsburg will host Kutztown University in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. The Huskies have certainly had the Golden Bears' number this year, defeating them all four times by a score 13-4.
If this trend of success continues and Bloomsburg downs their opponent Saturday night, Indiana (PA) looms in the second round of the tournament. To say that this match-up is slightly less favorable for the Huskies would be an understatement
The Huskies are a stunning 0-3 against Indiana this season, including an overtime loss in the PSAC Championships.
Still, the Huskies are saying all the right things heading into this crucial month on November. Hutchinson is not allowing her players to overlook a frisky Kutztown team. At the same time, Bloomsburg is making it known that they do not fear another match up with the pesty Indiana squad.
Vanartsdalen expressed the teams' feelings saying, "IUP has definitely caused us some trouble this year, but its because we haven't brought our "A game" to them yet. It is hard knowing that they have beaten us three times and they still haven't seen us at our best."
This is especially true for Vanartsdalen, who has been uncharacteristically shut out by Indiana University this season. Despite scoring 32 goals on her way to a record-breaking season, she has been unable to find the back of the net against Bloomsburgs' stubborn rival.
First things first though is Kutztown, a team that Vanartsdalen and the rest of her teammates have had no trouble scoring against. The series record between these two teams can be deceiving though, as Kutztown fields a very strong team and in their last game against Bloomsburg took the game down to the wire in a 2-1 loss.
"Although the [past] scores don't make it seem like this is an even match-up, I think Kutztown is a good team with a great record and some good players" said Vanartsdalen before adding that if the Huskies play the type of game they are capable of, no one can beat them.
Despite this attitude and their success last season, the Huskies enter this weekend with something to prove. If they take care of business Saturday night in front of their home crowd, the girls will get another shot to show Indiana that the Huskies are truly the top dog in field hockey.
It is rare for a defending champ coming off another strong season to have a chip on their shoulder, but after losing a hat-trick of games to IUP and having the PSAC title slip away, Vanartsdalen and the Huskies are making their playoff intentions clear.
""I'd rather have a great year and win another national title"
The journey beings Saturday